7 Things
by Imaginary Owls
Summary: "I bet I can find seven things I hate about you." Lina glared into his eyes as Neji glared back into hers. Follow Lina's love-hate relationship with Neji Hyuuga, and the friendship bonds between Kisho Nakasumo, Shibano Umino and Lina Hawatye. OC/N.
1. 7 Things

**A/N:** I'm back AGAIN! And with a New and IMPROVED Naruto story. :) This, unlike my stupid Christmas special, will...be good :) I've actually revised this from it's original form that was written between me and a friend...and I must say it's a CRAP load better. There is actual characterization, no first chapter romance. And You all WILL get to know the OC's before..well lets say before I get to their "chapters". I am a horrible person when it comes to my OC's so...please don't kill me but there is a reason why I do this to them xD. I know it's not EXACTLY like the Chunnin exams and I don't care, because well...I hated the Chunnin exams. I only started it here because it introduced Team Gai right away and it is crucial :), and you will know why as you begin to read.

I'd Like to thank my bestie, and my beta Kuki Salazar, and thank Plushies I got it right this time ^_^.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters but I do own Lina and Kisho, and partially Shibano, seeing as I just recreated her look's that's just about it, and my other bestie was the wonderful creater of her :)

So with out further ado, please enjoy. :).

Song: 7 Things by Miley.

* * *

Three figures walked along the hallways of the examination building, where they, as a team of gennin, will take their first exam to be qualified chunnin. The three twelve-year olds, the first a girl with long, brown hair in a ponytail accented by brown eyes; the second was a boy with purple, spiky hair and blue eyes; and last, but not least was a girl with long, bubblegum-pink hair and vibrant green-apple eyes. The twelve-year olds were searching for the room 301, but had no luck until they saw a group of fellow gennin. The bubblegum-pink haired girl looked at a door that the gennin of Team Seven was looking at. _It's a genjutsu, _she thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes.

"It's nothing more than a genjutsu...Sakura, you must have noticed it first, you do have the sharpest eyes on our team." Sasuke's cold voice spoke up, snapping Lina's gaze from the door to the Uchiha boy.

"I...did? Yeah! I knew it all along. The room number says 301 when this is only the second floor." Sakura stated smartly; Lina, Shibano and Kisho just rolled their eyes, knowing that Sakura was just going along with what Sasuke said.

"Pfft. I see you passed our test, but we're still not going to let rookies like you come in here...You're only rookies, fresh out of the academy. You kids don't belong here." Spoke a gennin. At the insult, Sasuke went to kick the gennin, as did Shibano. Lina's green eyes grew wide as she stopped Shibano, but didn't have the chance to stop Sasuke. Suddenly, a green flash came out of nowhere and stopped Sasuke from attacking the older ninja. Sasuke's eyes, along with his team and Lina's team, grew wide.

"Lee!" Called a cool, male voice; Lina looked from the green shinobi to the new voice. "What do you think you're doing? It was your idea to keep a low profile." A boy with long, coffee-bean hair and milky eyes accused. _Hm...He makes me hungry._ Lina thought as her mind conjured up a picture of cookies and milk.

_"I know, but..." 'Lee' stated as he caught sight of Sakura. "Will you do the honors of going out on a date with me?" Lee asked nicely._

_"No way! Look at those eyebrows! They're soooo bushy." Sakura rejected him harshly as she turned away from him. The look on his face caused Lina to feel sorry for him; she walked up to the dejected boy and tapped his shoulder. Lee blinked and turned around._

"Your name is Lee, no?" Lina smiled at him kindly. The bushy-browed teen looked at the bubblegum-pink haired girl with shock, but nodded his head nonetheless. "Then I, Lina Hawatye, will be gratefully honored if you went out on a date with me." Lina smiled largely, her words causing everyone, especially Sakura and Lee's teem, to go into shock. Lee blinked his eyes a few times, even pinching him self to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"You-You want to go—?"

"Yes! I would." Lina smiled at him.

"Then I would happily accept your offer, Lina Hawatye!" Lee announced with glee.

"Although..." Lina spoke up.

"I knew there was a catch." Lee said to him self sadly.

"There's always a catch." Neji Hyuuga mumbled under his breath.

* * *

"We have one date, then we must become friends." Lina smiled even more largely. Lee sighed, but nodded nonetheless.

The rules were simple, don't cheat; if you get caught cheating you and your team are disqualified. The shinobi had one hour to complete the nine questions that were on the paper in front of them. Lina sighed as she looked towards the front of the room where her purple haired friend, Kisho, was seated on the right of Hinata Hyuuga. He didn't look good at all. She moved her green eyes to her other team mate, Shibano, who was seated beside Rock Lee.

The girl sighed as she looked at her paper. _These are far too hard to even answer! And it seems that each question is harder than the previous one! How the heck am I supposed to answer these? Kisho and Shibano are the brains of the team._ Lina thought to herself as she looked to see who was next to her, finding none other than the other Hyuuga boy, Hinata's cousin, and...he had his byakugan activated. _Why is his—HE'S CHEATING! But we aren't supposed to cheat, unless...I get it now! As a ninja, one must be able to gain information with out being seen, or caught. I totally get it now. _Lina smirked as she looked at the person in front of her, when it hit her: _I've got no special techniques I could use! Ugh._ Lina slammed her head against the desk. Beside her, Neji looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Lina felt eyes on her so she opened one of her apple green eyes and saw the Hyuuga boy staring at her oddly. Her cheeks reddened as she sat up and laughed silently. The Hyuuga boy just turned back to his paper. Lina sighed as she began to doodle little drawings of people; one was of Rock Lee trying to give Sakura his love, another was of Naruto in a ramen bowl, and the third one was of Shibano running from Kisho, who was in a bumble bee costume. After the hour was finished, Ibiki told them it was time for the tenth and final question. He told them if they got it wrong, the person's whole team would fail and would not be able to take the chunnin exams ever again. Then Naruto, being the idiot that he was, raised his hand, but slammed it down on the table and began to rant about how giving up wasn't his way of the ninja, and that he will one day become the next hokage. Ibiki laughed and looked at them all seriously.

"You all..." There was a moment of silence. The tension in the room was thick, they were all on edge, waiting to find out if they had passed or failed. "Pass." Lina's eye twitched out of annoyance.

"You mean to tell us we went through all that brain killing work FOR NOTHING?" Lina grumbled. The pink haired girl heard a scoff from beside her, and she turned to the Hyuuga boy with her eyes brows frowning. "Something funny?"

"Just the fact that you would find something that simple 'brain killing work,' as you put it." The Hyuuga boy mocked her. That hit a nerve, and Lina glared at the boy. "I see I hit a nerve."

"You bet you did! I may be unintelligent but that doesn't make me stupid!" Lina growled.

"Sure it does, it's fates way of saying stop while your ahead before you get yourself killed." Neji told her coldly as Lina continued to glare at him, then suddenly somebody burst into the examination room. Out came a banner that read "Anko Mitarashi, Second Proctor, Pay Attention!"

"You're early again, Anko." Ibiki told her dully, but the odd, dark haired woman only smiled largely.

"Oh, am I really?" She chuckled. Ibiki sighed as Anko faced the gennin in the room. "Alright, listen up you maggots! My name's Anko Mitarashi, I'll be your second proctor for your second exam. The exam will begin tomorrow at noon, so meet me by the gates near the training grounds. Understood!" She ordered, and everyone nodded, or mumbled a yes. The first test was finished, and everyone began to leave the room; but with Lina's unfortunate luck, she wasn't looking where she was going because she was looking for Shibano and Kisho, she bumped into somebody. The person turned around and the green eyed girl looked up to apologize. The milky eyed boy glared at her, and she glared back.

"Watch where you're walking, Rookie." He spoke coolly at her as he turned around.

"Rookie! What the heck is THAT supposed to mean!" Lina yelled as she stomped after him.

"Simple, you are only a rookie, and therefore you won't last long in this event." Neji answered her as he continued to walk towards his team. Lina glared daggers at him.

"So you're saying that just because I'm a rookie, I am not capable of being a strong ninja!"

"That is exactly what I am saying. You have no skills in team work, and by the way looks of your body, you aren't very skilled in taijutsu. You probably rely on your ninjutsu and genjutsu abilities." Neji told her, turning to face her. Lina's face flushed red, not only from embarrassment, but from anger as well. When Neji noticed Lina had nothing else to say, he turned around again and walked towards Tenten and Rock Lee.

"Hey, Lina..." Kisho spoke up as he caught up to his bubblegum-pink haired friend.

"WHAT!" Lina snapped, glaring. Kisho jumped and took a step back. Shibano looked at her best friend strangely.

"Who made you angry this time?" Shibano asked dully.

"What makes you think I'm angry?" Lina shouted as Team Five walked out of the building. Shibano and Kisho sighed as they followed their angry friend.

"Lina..." Shibano started and Lina turned around, seeing her face. Lina sighed.

"That stupid Hyuuga."

"Hinata?"

"No! The other one! That...that thinks-he's-better-than-everyone-else-because-I'm-so-much-more-smarter-than-you-and-so-much-stronger-than-you-and-I-have-more-experience-as-a-ninja-than-you HYUUGA!" Lina shouted.

"Oooh, Hinata's cousin?" Kisho asked, clueless. Lina just glared at him.

"Seriously; how can such a sweet, kind, selfless girl be related to THAT?" She shouted as she pointed to Neji as he and his teammates walked by. He saw and over heard her, and glared at her. Rock Lee and Tenten looked between Hyuuga and Hawatye.

"Have we missed something?" Rock Lee asked, clueless. Lina turned to her date and glared at him. Lee just laughed nervously and hid behind Tenten. Neji 'hmph'ed and walked off. Lina glared at his back. Then Shibano started to laugh out of nowhere, causing all five of them to look at her.

"What's so funny?" Kisho asked.

"It's just...Lina likes Neji!" Shibano laughed, and Lina's eyes grew wide.

"What nonsense are you babbling on about!" Lina asked as her face grew crimson.

"Remember back about a year ago? When you 'hated' Kiba, but you just happened to like him a lot, and you hid it by picking on him, and always arguing with him?" Shibano continued to laugh and Lina glared.

"This is so NOT the same, Shibano!" Lina stated angrily. "I only just met the jerk."

"You didn't! Remember after you got over Kiba, and we were hanging out at Hinata's, and you bumped into him, and after you told me 'He's cuuuute'." Shibano imitated Lina in a girly, Sakura and Ino voice. "Then I disagreed, but then for two whole weeks after that, you continued to hang out at Hinata's house in hopes of see him, but then when you only saw him maybe a couple times. you gave up?" Shibano explained in a breath, but Lina just shook her head.

"I do not recall those events ever happening."

"Oh, but Lima-bean, they did." Shibano laughed, and Lina huffed and took a deep breath.

"Okay. Lee! Let's go!" Lina exclaimed cheerfully as she grabbed the boy's wrist and dragged him away. The green-jumpsuit-wearing teen looked at Tenten, Shibano and Kisho with a plea in his eyes, mouthing to them, "Help me!"

"Wasn't she just throwing a fit a second ago?" Tenten asked, confused.

"Yup." Kisho and Shibano said in unison. "That's Lina for you, she has major mood swings; you'll get used to it with time." Kisho laughed.

"So Lina, how close are you to your teammates?" Lee asked after taking a sip of tea.

"Very. The three of us have been inseparable since we were eight." Lina smiled, as did Rock Lee.

"That seems really nice."

"It is, I don't know what I'd do without one of them by my side, I guess I wouldn't be the same mentally or emotionally." Lina confessed. The two continued to talk until their food arrived.

_I can't believe that guy! What did he mean by '__**by the looks of your body'**__...Hey, wait! He was checking me out!_

"That pervert!" Lina shouted suddenly as she slammed her hands on the table. Lee jumped and looked at the pink haired girl oddly—He, along with everyone else in the restaurant.

"Uh...Lina, who are you talking about?" Lee asked nervously. Lina blinked and looked at Lee, then blushed.

"Uh...heh heh. Sorry about that, I guess I was thinking out loud." Lina laughed out of embarrassment.

"So who is this pervert? I shall go and punish him!" Rock Lee asked nobly.

"Uh...Lee, there's no need for that. Really..."

"No! Tell me who it is!" Lee pestered on eagerly. Lina looked at him hesitantly, but sighed.

"It was…" Lee's face just grew in wonder. "Neji."

"What! Neji, checking out a girl? Haha!" Rock Lee laughed hard, then stopped to catch his breath. "Oh, that is too funny." Lina just glared at him. "What? It is! It's something, Un-Neji like."

"Well...I don't think it was a...degrading checking out."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...he told me '_by the looks of your body, you aren't very skilled in taijutsu.'_" Lina stated while trying to imitate a Neji like voice, but failing.

"Oh. He tends to check out people to see if they're worth his time to fight." Lee stated simply, but Lina's eyes grew wide in anger.

"THAT JERK!" Lina shouted in anger as she stood up and slammed down money on the table, paying for both her and Lee. She grabbed hold of Lee and she stormed out of the shop.

"Uh...Lina...?" Rock Lee started as they, well Lina, stomped down the dirt streets of Konoha.

"What Lee?"

"Where are we going?"

"Finding that jerk!"

"By the name 'jerk,' you're referring to Neji?"

"Yes."

"Oh...okay...I should warn you, Lina—" Lina grunted and stopped walking. Lee stopped suddenly as the pink haired girl turned around and looked at him with narrowed eyes filled with anger.

"What should you warn me about, Lee?"

"Don't over react...?"

"Too late for that!" Lina glared as she turned around and began to stomp off.

_I have to find Neji before Lina does, because the way she looks right now, she could get herself killed._ Lee thought as he ran off, finding his rival team mate. After a few minutes of searching, he found Neji with Tenten eating at the ramen bar near Naruto and Shibano. Lee stopped running and caught his breath for a moment. Naruto noticed Lee first and turned to him and greeted him eagerly.

"Hey Bushy-brows!" Neji, Tenten and Shibano—who were in a deep discussion on the latest weapons—turned to look at the green beast. Lee turned to Neji with worry, but not for him, for the person he was about to speak of. "Hey, what's wrong Bushy-brows?" Naruto asked.

"It's Lina..." Lee spoke, this caught Shibano's attention.

"What did you do?" Shibano glared at Lee.

"Me? No! She's on a rampage to find you!" Lee exclaimed, nodding toward Neji.

"Why is she looking for find me? What business do I have with that halfwit?" Neji asked boredly.

"What did you call me, Hyuuga?" Lina's voice came into his ears.

"Oh no, Neji, you might want to apologize for what you did earlier." Lee advised, but Neji ignored him. Shibano smirked, she was going to enjoy this deeply. Lina stomped up to them and glared at the milky eyed boy.

"I hate you." She stated with her voice filled with animosity. Shibano's eyes widened. That was something she's never heard come out of Lina's mouth. Sure, Shibano had heard her best friend say 'I hate you' to people, but it was a joking way, never had the pink haired girl ever said it and actually felt it. Shibano could see the hate in Lina's eyes; she could feel the hate seething off of Lina's body.

"Lima-bean," Shibano tried using their fun nicknames for each other in hopes of calming Lina down. "Don't you think you're over using that word on him? You don't hate people."

"But I hate him! You jerk! How can you just automatically assume someone's weak just by looking at them! First I thought you were just a straight up perverted teenager! But noooooo! You're just this huge jerk that thinks that everybody is weaker than you because they aren't strong in an area!"

"Hah, it's not that I don't think that, I know you're weak in Taijutsu. It's your destiny to be weak in that area." Neji started as he glared at her, "Like it was your parent's destiny to die."

Everyone's eyes widened. Tenten and Lee's widened just because what Neji said was out of line, but they also didn't know that Lina didn't have parents. Naruto and Shibano's eyes grew narrower as they glared at Neji. Lina looked at him with tears filling the corners of her eyes.

"So what? Destiny doesn't exist! They died a noble death, and there is nothing anybody could say otherwise, you butt face!" At Lina's 'insult' Neji's lips twitched. Inside he was laughing his pretty little face off.

"Butt face? Is that the best you can come up with?" Neji smirked in mockery, but Lina just continued to glare at him.

"Yes! Because cussing is bad thing!"

"Who says?"  
"Shibano..."Lina mumbled. Neji scoffed, causing Lina stand on her toes so that she was eye level with the boy. "I bet I can find seven things I hate about you." Lina glared into his eyes as Neji glared back into hers.

"I bet I can find seven things I hate about you too." Neji challenged.

"You're...jerkish." Lina started.

"You're annoying."

"You're stupid."

"You're ignorant."

"You're too proud"

"You're too stubborn"

"You don't talk a lot."

"You talk too much."

"You're too Egotistical"

"You're too belligerent"  
"You're too arrogant"  
"You're too cantankerous"  
"You're too much of a...a...butt head!"  
"You're too much of a pain in the ass!" The two ninja's faces were so close that the slightest movement from either would cause their faces to collide, and that out come would've been obvious.  
"Okay you two..."Tenten tried stepping in, but she was ignored as the two kept staring each other down.  
"I wonder, if they stare hard enough at each other, will they subconsciously kiss?" Shibano thought out loud. Both Neji's and Lina eyes twitched at her comment. Lina stood back, her feet flat against the ground. She turned her back from them and began walking away. Everyone, minus Neji, just looked at the pinkette with confusion. Lina left with out saying a word.  
"Uuuh, was it just me or did it get a little bit colder?" Naruto asked slightly scared.  
"No, Naruto it wasn't just you, I felt it too...Oh, I'm gonna have a ear full tonight. Might as well get a head start on it now." Shibano sighed as she paid for her ramen she didn't even get to finish and ran after her friend.

The next day, Lina was still pretty ticked off. Kisho had kept bugging her earlier that day but that only made her even more mad, so Shibano filled Kisho in what he had missed at Ichiraku's Ramen yesterday.  
"That...that bastard!" Kisho shouted out of anger. "How could he say those things!"  
"Simple." Lina spoke up. "It was a challenge..."  
"That still didn't give him the right to say that about your parents." Kisho glared at the dirt road as they met up with all the other gennin at the training place where Anko had told them to meet her.  
"Alright maggots, this is the Forest of Death." Anko announced to everyone as she pointed to the forest behind her.  
"What an original name..." Kisho stated sarcastically; Lina elbowed him in the gut, signaling him to shut the heck up.  
"Right. Each of you will be given a scroll. One is an Earth scroll and one is a Heaven scroll. The idea of this test is to retrieve the other scroll." Anko explained as she held up a navy colored scroll with the symbol for earth and a white one with the symbol for heaven. "You have five days to retrieve the opposite scroll and check in at the tower in the center of the forest." Anko finished explaining as she pulled out a huge stack of paper and handed them to Naruto, "Pass these around." she ordered. When Lina got one she looked at it with confusion.  
"What are these papers for?"

"These are for you to sign and turn back to me, and then you receive your scroll." Anko started, then answered Lina's question. "These contracts are for if you die in the forest, it won't be on me." She smirked, and Lina, Kisho and Shibano sweat dropped. They sighed and signed their contracts and headed towards the table to receive their scroll. The guy collected their contracts and another guy handed Lina a heaven scroll. The vibrant team headed towards gate five and stood there.  
"So, if we meet up with that bastard—"  
"Language, Kisho!" Shibano scolded him.  
"I don't care! As I was saying, if we meet up with him I'll tear him to shreds!" Kisho glared at Neji as he and his team came walking in the same general direction as them. Lee turned towards Lina and waved cautiously with a kind smile on his face. Lina smiled at him and waved back. Neji turned to see who Rock Lee was waving at, and he locked eyes with Lina. Lina narrowed her eyes, as did Neji. Kisho and Shibano looked between them.  
"Hey, does anyone have a coat? Because it just got cold over here!" Kisho exclaimed, then laughed with Shibano as she joined in. Lina's eye twitched as she punched Kisho and smacked Shibano's arm.

"Alright! Everyone has a scroll and turned in their paper work!" Anko started a few minutes later, she raising her arm as she shouted "The second task has begun!" The gates opened and all the ninja ran into the forest. After what seemed to be forever, Kisho, Shibano and Lina came to a stop thinking that one, they'd have to rest eventually; and two, they had to come up with a secret password. After debating, and Lina's constant arguing on the subject, the password was "Lina likes Neji." It was simple because they knew that if they were to encounter Lina, she'd never say something that, even if she was in denial. The three of them split up, with Lina holding the original scroll, and Shibano and Kisho each having a copy dummy scroll. Lina yawned as she came to rest on a large tree root, but her rest didn't last long because a kunai flew past her face, cutting her slightly on the cheek. She jolted up and faced the area in which the kunai came out.

"Come out whoever you are, I'm not afraid to fight you!" She shouted as she reached for a few shuriken.

"Lina...?" Rock Lee's voice came from behind a tree. Lina slightly lifted her guard, but was still holding her shuriken just incase it wasn't Lee. Lee stepped out from behind a nearby tree and held up his hands. "It's me..."

"How can I be so sure?" Lina glared.

"Because we went to Tsumiten for our date." Lee told her something that only the two of them knew. Lina left her guard down as she sighed. Suddenly, she was attacked from behind.

"What the heck!" Lina shouted as she face planted into the ground. She shifted her head and saw Neji on top of her with a kunai at her neck.

"Hn. Weakling, letting your guard down; didn't you learn anything in the academy? One of the most important rules of being a ninja is to never let your guard down, not even for a second." Neji glared as he stood up, grabbing her arm and yanking her up, probably throwing her shoulder in the process.

"Ouch, you jerk! You're hurting me!" Lina shouted as she yanked her arm from his grasp and she massaged her shoulder. The pink haired girl glared at the coffee-bean haired boy hatefully, a look that he returned.

"Uh...Okay you two, we don't want a fight among friends..." Tenten stated as she attempted to calm the two teens.

"But what if I have the scroll you need?" Lina smirked as she kept her eyes on Neji. Tenten had obviously not thought of that, but Neji activated his Byakugan and saw that they had the same scrolls.

"Shame, and here I thought I'd finally be able to fight you to see if you're as weak as you look." Neji smirked but Lina glared at him in confusion.

"Meanie-butt-headed-jerk-face say wha?"

"We have the same scroll you dimwit!"

"Who are you callin' a dimwit?"

"You, you dimwit!"

"I ain't no dimwit!"

"I call 'em as I see 'em!"

"Why you As-Butt face!" Lina almost cussed, causing Neji's smirk to only grow wider. "What are you smirking at!"

"You almost cursed," Neji's smirk continued to grow, but Lina just glared harshly at him.

"Yeah, that's because you pi—make me so mad, I want to curse!" Lina shouted, but Neji's smirk grew even more at the second time she almost slipped. Tenten and Rock Lee sighed as they continued to just stand there, watching their teammate and their new pink haired friend continue to bicker like an old married couple. After what seemed like forever, Lina tried finding Shibano and Kisho, with the help of Lee and his team, but no luck. Lina sighed as she, along with the rest of Lee's team, sat down. They set camp for the night, knowing that they wouldn't be able to find Lina's teammates when in the dark. Lina sat on a tree root looking up at the night sky when she felt someone sitting next to her. She jumped and looked to her right and saw that it was Neji. She looked at him oddly and blinked, he caught on and looked at her.

"I was wrong about you not knowing anything about team work. I guess you do, by the way you are worried about your teammates." Neji said as he looked at the ground, Lina looked at him with slightly wide eyes, then her eyes softened. _'Maybe he isn't all that hoity-toity as I thought.'_ She thought.

"Thank you...It means a lot coming from you. And you're not all that much of a jerk face, you're kind of...alright, seeing as you helped me look for Shibano and Kisho today, even though you could've just left to go find the other scroll." Lina replied as she smiled softly at him. He just scoffed and stood up. He looked over his shoulder and nodded before he turned to walk back to their camp. Lee came up to Lina's left and sat down.

"He isn't all bad most of the time, but he has his moments." Lee smiled. She looked at him with an odd expression playing on her face. "It's obvious, you may deny it all you want, but you DO have some feelings for him." Lee smirked, then laughed as Lina's face reddened.

"I guess I could have feelings for him when he's acting like he is now...not like a jerk face." Lina pouted as she looked away from Lee and towards Neji. Her face softened as she observed him setting some wood down. Lee smirked as he watched Lina observe his pale-eyed team mate. "But you didn't hear it from me, got it?" Lina whipped her head around and narrowed her apple green eyes at the green beast of Konoha. Lee smiled and nodded. He stood up and made his way towards his team. Lina sighed as she continued to look at the sky.

* * *

"Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it. I'll be going now, you guys and I have lost a day on trying to get a scroll. So…I guess I'll see you guys at the tower!" Lina smiled and bowed to them and began to walk off, but Lee stopped her.

"Lina!"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, okay?" Lee asked and she nodded with a smile on her face. She turned and began to walk away.

Lina had roamed for hours, it was already starting to get dark, and she was hungry. She saw an apple tree and went towards it. She focused her chakra on her feet, running up the tree trunk and landing on a branch. She picked a few apples and jumped back down to sit on the ground. She began to eat her apples until she heard Ino's voice. She looked over a hedge and saw Neji had his back towards them and Ino was lifting her fists at him. Neji had asked if she wanted to fight but she, along with her team mates, declined and then they ran off. Lina let out a laugh, instantly causing Neji to throw a kunai in her direction. Lina dodged it, but barely—it scratched her cheek, right below the scratch from the previous day. The pink haired girl growled as she yanked the kunai out from the trunk of the tree and threw it back at Neji.

"What the heck is the big idea, you jerk!" Lina shouted at him as she stood up from behind the bush. Neji turned to her and glared.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be looking for Shibano and Kisho?" Neji asked, but Lina just shrugged.

"I'll find them when I find them." Lina told him, and Neji's eye slightly twitched. "Usually when we really need the others, we send a chakra pulse through these…" Lina smiled as she pointed to her Konoha headband. "It was Kisho's idea to be able to do that, but It was Shibano's Idea to have different colors, so they wouldn't look like everyone else's." Lina smiled again, and Neji stared at her.

"What did you think of?" Neji asked, already knowing the answer.

"...Uh...that we should all wear them on our heads...Heh heh." Lina laughed nervously, and Neji sweat dropped. _At least it was something, rather than nothing. But, now that I think about it, it was a smart move. If someone is in battle they wouldn't feel the chakra pulse right when it hits because they're using their chakra somewhere else, and if they wear it on their head then they'll be able to sense it almost immediately. _Neji thought to himself as he stared intently at the pink haired girl. Lina's face grew red as she shifted her eyes around, but brought them back up to finally look him in the eyes. Neji blinked, noticing he was staring and turned away.

"Smart move. I guess you have some brains after all..."Neji told her, Lina smiled slightly at the somewhat compliment.

"Thanks...I think..."

* * *

"Good, because you wont get compliments like that from me...often." Neji smirked as he walked off. He stopped for a second and looked over his shoulder. "Hey, Lina. Look after yourself; I actually want to see if you're worth anything in the final round." Neji smirked again as he saw Lina's face redden in anger, then he continued his way back to his team's meeting spot.

Lina was again wandering around. It had been a few hours since her run in with the Hyuuga boy, and she was still pretty ticked off. She was hopping from tree to tree, looking for someone to steal a scroll from, and keeping an eye out for Shibano and Kisho. She felt a pulse of chakra hit her head. Lina stopped immediately as she recognized the energy, it was Shibano's and it had come from the eastern direction. The pink haired girl quickly changed her course of direction and headed to where she had sensed Shibano's chakra.

"Huh, that's pretty tough talk; I guess that makes your village third rate." Lina heard Neji's voice. "I wonder if any of you amateurs are ready to take on the real thing?" Neji exclaimed pompously. Lina sweat dropped and sighed. _He's talking all high and mighty to some weakli—wait. Shibano's chakra's stronger...it's almos—wait! She must be here!_ Lina thought to herself as she hopped over to where Neji and Tenten were.

"Lee." Lina heard Tenten say out of worry.

"You blew it." Neji started as his eyes narrowed. "It looks like somebody used our teammate as a punching bag. NO BODY DOES THAT AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" He shouted as he activated his byakugan. Lina stopped beside him and looked at him with fright. Neji's eyes shifted towards her, and for a brief, a very brief, moment, they shared eye contact. Lina looked away from Neji and looked at the scene. Naruto and Sasuke were passed out, Choji was on the ground, Shikamaru had Ino in his arms—she looked unconscious but Lina presumed that Ino was in her mind-transfer jutsu. Sakura looked all beat up and her hair was cut short, and Lee was unconscious on the ground all beat up as well. Then Lina laid eyes on her two team mates; Shibano was barely holding onto consciousness and Kisho was on the ground, beat up and unconscious. Lina's eyes widened in shock and fear, but they narrowed in anger. "No more playing around, Tenten..."Neji started, then looked at Lina. "And Lina," he added, "Full power!" Neji ordered. Lina didn't exactly know what to do, nor did she know _what _she was doing, but what she did know was that she was down on the forest floor faster than you can say ramen. Lina glared at the mummy looking man and hit him, then turned to the spiky looking haired guy and was just about to attack him when she was flown back into the air. She squinted her eyes waiting for impact, but it never came.

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**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed it, please R&R, I like feed back. :)


	2. Monster

**A/N: Okay so it's taken me FOREVER to come out with chapter Two, but you know it's finally out! Anyway Thank you Kuki Salazar for bein' my Beta and putting up with my...me being me lol and well..yeaaaaaah thanks! :D I love youuuu. Anyway. This has taken me soooo long to do, and I am proud of most of it; not the ending. Neji is a little OOC, duh obviously, but he's talking more which is slightly important to the plot; but hey I didn't make him go WAAAAAAAAAAAY OOC, hopefully. Anyway...again the ending sucks I got really lazy in typing it towards the end and I just really wanted to end it.**

**Song: Moster by Meg and Dia :D**

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He didn't know what had come over him, but his instincts kicked in: as soon as he had seen the pink-haired girl fly through the air, he had quickly rushed to catch her before she hit a tree. The pale, pearl-eyed boy looked down at the hot-pink-haired girl in his arms. Her face was scrunched up, eyes clenched shut, waiting for the impact of the tree that obviously never came. He watched as one of the lime-green eyes of the girl cracked open slightly. When she realized she wasn't crushed, her face softened and her eyes shifted around. Her electric green eyes looked up at the opal eyed boy. She felt one of his arms under legs and the other on her arm, close to her chest. Her face flushed red as she closed her eyes again.

"T-thanks. You can set me on my feet now." Neji just nodded and let her down, but not gently.

"OW! You jerk! What the the heck was the big idea, doin' that for?" Lina shouted as she stood up and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You told me to set you down." Neji replied coolly.

"YEAH, ON MY FEET! Not drop me, you a-jerk!" Lina shouted, and almost cursed again which had made Neji smirk.

"Sorry to interrupt this entertaining show of affection between two little kids but, I was challenged by you, girlie." The mummy man spoke. At the word 'girlie,' Lina looked over her shoulder.

"What did you call me!"

"Huh, just like the pathetic weaklings you call team mates, you have a temper." The spiky haired guy smirked. Lina's head whipped in his direction. Her lime eyes pierced into his, anger filling her body. Her hands took the forms of shaking fists. She bowed her head, trying not to succumb to her anger.

"What. Did. You. SAY!" She screamed as she glared at the enemy.

"Do I have to spell it out for you? Your team mates are weaklings, and you're probably one too." The older ninja smirked. TenTen and Neji could feel and see the anger sizzling off of Lina, and with Neji's byakugan still activated, he saw her chakra level rise. His eyes narrowed in curiosity, then widen in shock when he saw Lina's eyes. Her eyes weren't the same vibrant green eyes that showed anger. They were...different. They resembled the byakugan, except she had pupils. The Hyuuga boy could see little veins coming from the side of her face. He's never seen anything like it.

_ Could, she have a kekkai genkai? How could that be? She doesn't come from a clan, her parents are dead!_ Neji thought as she stared at her, god-smacked. "Lina..."Neji started but Lina's hate filled eyes shifted to him. He got the memo, her eyes just screamed for him to shut up. He sighed and closed his eyes; but as soon as he opened them, Lina was already throwing a punch at the spiky haired sound ninja. The sound nin dodged her just in time, and Lina tumbled onto the floor. She growled as she stood back up and ran towards him, he dodged but she disappeared. The sound nin looked around, but Neji saw where she had reappeared from. The sound nin didn't see it coming to him, one second he was standing looking for her, the next the pink haired girl dropped kicked him in the head. TenTen and Neji's eyes widened, from Lina's physical appearance she didn't look strong enough to perform a drop kick like that.

"What-What the hell!" The mummy man gasped. Lina stopped with a sadistic smile on her face, which obviously didn't mix with the hate filled eyes of hers, the combination of the two weren't good. Lina kept throwing punches and kicks at the mummy man, but each time he blocked. Neji's eyes narrowed at the scene. _Lina's loosing, she can't get a hit in._ Neji thought to himself. Next thing he knew Lina was on her knees, clutching her head in her hands. His eyes widened, until he saw the sound nin had been thrown back into the tree. The veins on the side of Lina's head grew more, you could distinguish that they were there. Neji's eyes widened again as he saw her chakra level rise even more. _Any more of this and Lina's chakra will disperse, she'd black out, or worse—die, _ Neji thought. _But what I don't get is how did that sound ninja get thrown back? Lina didn't perform any jutsu,_ Neji thought. The sound ninja got up onto his feet and went to release his attack, but instead of Lina going down on her knees, she caused the attacker to fall to his. _This isn't making any sense, how can she __deflect the sound waves with out using any form of jutsu..._Neji continued to think. TenTen looked from the scene briefly and to her team mate.

"Neji, what's going on? What's wrong with Lina?" She asked. "How is she doing all of this with out using any type of jutsu? This isn't normal."

"No, it's not..."Neji mumbled to he realized it. His eyes grew wide and mouth went ajar. _That's it! She isn't using a jutsu of any sort, it's her eyes. Her eyes must enable her to see movement of the wind and the air. And seeing that sound waves must travel through the air she's able to see them and deflect them back at him._ Neji smirked triumphantly as he understood. The spiky haired sound nin was approaching Lina from behind, TenTen and Neji's eyes grew wide. The fight now was getting unfair. "Lina! Behind you!" Lina whipped around and glared at the second male sound ninja. She smirked sadistically as he flew back.

"Trying to double team me, huh?" Lina's voice was deeper than normal. She grinned evilly as she backhanded the mummy ninja, sending him flying. Lina made her way to the spiky haired ninja, the sound nin tried moving but no matter how hard he tried he was unable to move. Lina cackled as she stomped on his leg. The ninja screamed out in pain.

_She's got to stop this...her chakra level is too high to mess with right now. Any more anger and the chakra will burn her alive._ Neji thought as he jumped down from the tree and made his way towards her. Lina was about punch the ninja but something stopped her.

"LINA! STOP!" Shibano's scream stopped the pink haired girl. Lina shifted her head to look at her chocolate haired team mate. Tears coming forming and fear seeping from her best friends brown eyes. "Stop, this isn't like you..." Lina just turned away and was about punch again until a warm hand grabbed hold of both of hers. She looked over her shoulder to see the pear-eyed Hyuuga holding her in his strong grip. The pink haired girl growled as she tried to get out of his grip but failed. "Lina, please stop acting like this, it isn't you! You'd never do this! You aren't yourself!" Shibano cried out to her friend. The veins on the side of her face began to disappear, but Neji still saw her chakra level was the same and that her Hyuuga like green eyes were still intact.

"Lina, listen to us! Snap out it! Your chakra level is too high, any more of this and you could possibly die!" Neji exclaimed, but that didn't matter to her. Lina still struggled to free her self from his grasp. The opal eyed boy sighed as he grew closer to her and whispered in her ear. "You need stop, you could kill Shibano..." Lina's eyes widen as she let her arms fall. He felt her chakra level go down slowly. Neji slowly let go of her wrists, but was caught off guard when she spun around and hugged him. He blinked and looked down with wide eyes, the bubblegum-pink haired girl was crying on his shoulder. She gripped his shirt tightly and didn't let go.

"I don't want to kill Shibano..."She whimpered. Neji didn't know what to do, he just stood there. Suddenly, he sensed a different kind of chakra.

"Enough of this..." The mummy sound nin glared as he stood up. "Are you just going to stand around all day, or are we gonna fight?"

"Hn. It looks like it's been taken out of our hands.."Neji spoke up. Lina blinked as she looked up at him, realizing who it was. She stood up by herself and ran to Shibano.

"Sa-Sasuke! You're awake!" Sakura announced. Lina looked away and her eyes grew wide as she saw Sasuke standing up. He didn't look normal, he had these black markings all over his body and purple chakra flowing all around him. Neji turned to Lina and Shibano.

"Lina...get Shibano, and Kisho." he ordered. Lina looked at him strangely, not knowing what he meant. "I don't like this...we probably need to get to higher ground." Lina nodded and tried to pick both Kisho and Shibano up, but failed.

"Uh..Neji..."Lina called softly. The pale lavender eyed boy looked at her. "I-I can't hold two...would you mind getting Kisho?" She asked. Neji sighed and nodded, Lina helped Kisho onto Neji's back and before she could say pie Neji was already up on the branch where they originally were. Shibano got onto Lina's back and the pink haired girl made her way to the tree branch.

"I don't like the looks of this..." Shibano spoke up as she watched the scene. Lina nodded in agreement.

"I don't either, but...we have to just stay and watch how it'll play out. It's Sasuke, so I doubt he'll need any help defeating those goons." Lina stated faithfully in her childhood friend. The group on the tree branch continued to watch the scene. Lina wanted to jump down there and help but she knew she couldn't. She could feel Neji's cold opal eyes watching her. _It's almost as if he cared...But maybe it's just that he didn't want some girl that's done nothing wrong die?_ Lina thought to herself.

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It was a good forty-five minutes since the incident with the sound ninjas, and Lina and Shibano were currently teaming up with Team Gai for the moment. Shibano and Lina were looking after Kisho, who was still unconscious; and TenTen and Lee had left to gather wood and food, and Neji stayed, keeping guard.

"Get some rest, Shibano." Lina ordered her as she stood up. Shibano looked up at her pink haired team mate.

"No, you need your re-"

"DON'T ARGUE WITH ME!" Lina snapped as she glared at Shibano, but her face softened when she saw the shock on her brown haired friends face. "Sorry...it's just you went through a lot more than me today, so you need your rest. I'm going to go help Neji keep watch." Lina smiled softly at her friend as she turned around and walked towards the Hyuuga boy. She sighed as she sat down against the tree he was standing against. Neji looked at her from the corner of his eye and looked forward. Lina's eyes cast downwards onto the forest ground.

_'How could I have been that strong? I've never been able to leave a bruise on Kisho nor Shibano, always a red spot. Was...I possessed by something? It was just all so weird and overwhelming. I could...see everything in the air around me. It was weird.' _Lina thought to her self as she brought her knees to her chest and rested her head on them.

"You're thinking about what happened earlier, aren't you?" Neji asked sharply as he continued to keep watch. Lina looked up at him and nodded, then thought that he didn't see her, she answered verbally. "You know, it wasn't really your fault. You were doing what you thought was right to protect your teammates, it's...somewhat natural." Neji tried to comfort her, but he had to choose his words carefully.

"No. I..I could have hurt Shibano. I've..never EVER gave someone a bruise before, but it was weird, I could see everything in the air, chakra and the sound waves that the sound ninja were sending. I could see that, and I was able to deflect it, just like that..That's what I'm thinking about. I've never been able to do that before..." Lina explained to the older boy as she kept her eyes focused on the ground. Neji looked over his shoulder at her, he sighed and walked over to her; he sat beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"It may be unnatural for you now, but once the chuunin exams are over, I'm sure all this will be natural for you." Neji tried comforting her; in all honesty, Neji didn't know the first thing about anything that was happening to him now.

"Neji..." Lina started and Neji looked at her curiously. "Do you think I have a blood line limit...?" Neji was left speechless; only a while ago he was thinking the same exact thing. "Neji..." Lina spoke as she looked p at him. Neji turned to look and saw her green eyes. For the first time he didn't know what the answer was, nor what to say. Neji's eyes' softened as his hand continues to rest on her shoulder.

"I...I don't know. You could, if I knew whether or not you came from a clan, then I'll be able to find out..":Neji told her. Lina's eyes widened a bit at the news, and a small smiled played on her lips.

"I...I do come from a clan..." She spoke up. Neji's eyes widened a little. "The Hawatye clan, they, unlike the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clans, aren't residents of Konoha, but they originated from the village..." Lina informed him. "That was my father's Clan. I've only met them once, when I was three and at his funeral. There was custody issues, but after that, I never saw nor heard of them again." Lina explained. "I don't really know much about them, except what they look like, their history and such is a complete mystery to me..." She finished and Neji just looked at the ground.

"I'll do some digging...I'm sure my uncle has records of the Hawatye clan." He stated. "Especially if they have a blood line limit that is descended from the Byakugan." Neji finished and Lina's ears perked up.

"What...?"

"What happened today with your eyes, it looked like the Byakugan..."

"Oh.." Lina just sighed. "Neji.."

"Yeah."

"Was I really that scary today?" She asked softly as she looked at him. Neji just looked at her, his arm sliding over her shoulders.

"Yes...you were." He answered truthfully. Lina took a deep breath and latched herself to him, burring her face in his shoulder.

"Please make sure I never get that scary ever again.I don't want to hurt anybody, especially not Shibano..."Lina cried softly. Neji's grip tightened on her shoulder and he nodded. Rock Lee and TenTen came through the trees and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the scene before them.

"Uh- Are we interrupting anything?" Lee asked as he raised an eyebrow with six fish over his shoulder. Lina jumped and fell off the root she was sitting on. She turned her pink, red-faced head to her new friends.

"Uh...no. Not really..nothing going on her!." Lina stuttered as she stood up, along with Neji. Lina brushed herself off and smiled nervously at the three. "Well, I will go check up on Shibano and Kisho..." Lina laughed nervously as she maneuvered her way around Neji and into their campsite. Lee and TenTen looked a Neji suspiciously.

"So...what was going on? What happened to make you go all...buddy buddy on our Lima-bean, huh Neji?" Lee raised an eye brow at him with a smirk on his face.

"Nothing. She was crying and I felt obliged to put up with her." Lina's eyes widened at this. She looked over her shoulder and glared at the back of Neji's head. _OBLIGED! THAT ASS!_ Lina thought.

"What was she crying about?" TenTen asked suspiciously. Lina caught sight of what seemed like jealousy.

"What happened today...with the sound ninja." Neji answered seriously.

"Ah...That's something anyone would be crying about, really." Lee sympathized as he looked to TenTen and Neji with soft eyes. TenTen looked to the dirt with sad eyes.

"Yeah...but it wasn't natural...how she was acting." TenTen spoke up softly. "And the look in her eyes...it was like she was going to kill..."

"Yeah...it wasn't natural." Neji agreed. "And from what we've observed of her and her team is this: Lina is loud and has a temper, and a mighty big one at that. Shibano, she's easy going, laid back and she takes a joke. And finally, Kisho: He's a combination of the two. He has a temper, not as big as Lina's but it's there, but he is a prankster, likes to make jokes in the wrong situations." Neji finished, and Lee and TenTen nodded in agreement.

"But...I can understand why Lina was so angry..." Lee spoke up, thus causing Neji and TenTen to look at him curiously. "When we were eating, I asked if her and her teammates were close and this is what she told me exactly: _'I don't know what I'd do without one of them by my side, I guess I wouldn't be the same mentally or emotionally._'.She saw Kisho knocked out and Shibano on the verge it must have triggered something in her mind, a memory or something and she snapped." Lee told them.

"Yeah...and that kind of reaction is common with people who have had something tragic happen in their past; seeing the death of a family member or a friend, even being bullied..."Neji told them.

"Was she bullied, though?" TenTen asked.

"Yeah...I'd hear her crying in Hinata's room some days...even now." Neji replied.

"And her parents died...?" Lee asked, Neji just nodded.

"Yeah...but I don't know the details of that story." Neji answered. Lee sighed as he began to walk towards the campsite.

"I'm going to see Lina, and start cooking this fish before it goes bad." Lee told them, the other two nodded. Lee didn't get far from his team when he saw Lina standing there, clenching her fist and her hair covering her yes. "Lina...?" He spoke. Neji and TenTen looked in Lee's direction, they made their way over to him. Lina glared right at Neji.

"You...bastard!" Lee, TenTen, Neji and Shibano, who was still awake, eyes all widened at Lina's words.

"You...You cursed, Lina." Shibano stated.

"Yes, I know and I'm sorry Shibano, but this bastard pisses me off!" Lina glared straight at Neji.

"I hate you! I can't stand you!" She shouted.

"Lina...calm down. You're being too loud, you could give out our position!" Lee tried to calm her down, but it didn't work.

"You were obliged! OBLIGED! I can't believe you! For moment, for a while I thought you were actually an okay guy! No! I take it back! You are a jerk!" She shouted at him. "As soon as Kisho wakes up, we're leaving," she glared.

"Fine, go ahead. I don't care." Neji replied coldly. Lina glared at him. "Have fun trying to control that monster that's in side you next time an enemy comes along. I know sure as hell that I'm not going to be there to help you again." Lina's eyes widened along with the three others watching the scene.

"Neji...that was a-" TenTen was cut off by a loud smack that filled the area. Birds flew away, and silence filled the air around them. Shibano's eyes widened as she stared at her best friend; Lina had just smacked Neji across the face, and it was hard. Neji had a large, red hand print on the right side of his face, but he didn't realize the pain, he was too shocked of what had happened. Opal eyes stared wide into narrow green ones. Lina was breathing hard as she dropped her hand.

"I trusted you for a split second...hoping that you'd help. You PROMISED me. Now I know never to trust you with anything." Lina sneered at him as she pushed pass him and walked away from the campsite. An awkward silence fell upon the group of four. Shibano glared at Neji, and so did Rock Lee; TenTen was in shock of what happened before her to really have much of a reaction at all.

"That was out of line, Neji" Lee stated simply. "I'm going to find her and make sure she's okay," he told them as he handed the fish to TenTen.

"You know, I knew you were a jerk and all, Hyuuga..." Shibano started, and Neji's pale eyes turned to her, "but I would've never thought that you would say such a cruel thing to someone. Now I know." Shibano glared at him and turned away from him. TenTen sighed and started the fire to cook the fish.

"Hey, Lina...?" Lee called out to the pink-haired girl. Lina looked over her shoulder at Lee then looked back in front of her. "What Neji said was..."

"Uncalled for? Wrong?" Lina asked as Lee nodded his head, but also gave her a verbal reply. "Ugh! I just can't believe him. For one moment, he was okay...someone I could actually like being around. Then his pride kicks in and hes a jerk again." Lee looked at her softly and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Well...give it time? That's what I did when the three of us first became a team."

"And how long did it take for Neji to be civil towards you?" Lina asked, looking at him.

"A few months...about six. Maybe a year. I don't really remember. It just happened." Lee answered, then looked at her with a smile. "Be patient. Patience is a virtue."

"Not one of mine." Lina smiled lightly. Lee chuckled and the two began to walk back to camp, where they were hit with the aroma of cooked fish. Lina's nose twitched at the smell of it. She noticed Shibano sitting beside TenTen, laughing and joking around.

"Shibano! I thought I told you to rest!" Lina exclaimed.

"I am resting!"

"No your not! Kisho is resting!"

"Kisho is also knocked out cold." Shibano told her. Lina sighed in agreement and nodded her head. She looked over at her purple haired friend and saw him stir. Kisho wasn't the type of person to be laying around doing nothing, and it seems that the twelve year old was coming to.

"Well Kisho, my dear dead-weight-of-a friend, I see that you are coming back to join us in the land of the living." Lina smirked. Kisho opened his eyes blushed when Lina's face was so close to his.

"Ah! Lina! What the hell are you doing!" He exclaimed, then looked around. He took notice of the extra three people. "And what the hell are they doing here!" He shouted. Lina sighed and smacked him upside the head.

"They were the ones that helped you guys get away from the sound ninja." Lina told him. Kisho sighed and was about to thank them until he caught sight of Neji; and he glared at him.

"You bastard!" Everyone's eyes widened at the shock and suddenness of the bad language.

"KISHO!" Shibano shouted at him.

"What! I said that when I see him, I'll rip him to shreds!" Kisho exclaimed.

"Oh, really? I'd like to see you try." Neji smirked, "you can't beat me. You just got out of a major fight, and your weaker than normal. Plus, I doubt you could ever defeat me." Neji countinued smirking. Kisho glared at him, then noticed a crimson spot on the right side of Neji's face. He raised a purple eyebrow at it.

"How'd you get that mark on your face?" He asked. Everyone who could, looked at it again, and Neji just closed his eyes. "Does it hurt if you touch it?" Kisho asked as he stood up and went to touch it; Neji winced. Kisho went to do it again but Neji stopped him. "Who gave it to you?"

"I did." Lina spoke up as she glared at Neji.

"Oooh, damn. What'd you do this time, Hyuuga?" Kisho laughed.

"He crossed the line. And I refuse to ever speak to him again." Lina replied.

"I don't think that'll last long at all." Shibano whispered to Lee and TenTen, and they agreed; but Lina over heard her and smacked her on her arm.

"It will! He doesn't deserve my time to talk to him." Lina told her dark-brown-haired friend.

"I don't deserve your time! Hah! Don't make me laugh, Hawatye. It's you who doesn't deserve MY time." Lina's eye twitched as she clenched her fist.

"Oh, really? I didn't call _you_ a monster, now did I?" She shouted at the Hyuuga boy. Kisho's eyes widened. Lina realized what she said, and she was gonna tell everyone not to tell Kisho what had happened earlier that day.

"What happened!"

"Nothing, we were fighting, nothing special. Things got blown out of proportion." Lina told Kisho. "It really isn't anything you should be worrying about, Kish." Lina smiled, but Kisho looked at her suspiciously and glared at Neji; he let it go.

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The six gathered around and ate their fish, there was few conversation, just between TenTen and Shibano, reallly; but when it was silent, 'awkward' was the only way to describe it. Team Gai and Shibano got the hint that Lina didn't want Kisho to know about what had happened while he was passed out; and they all silently agreed it was best.

"Well...thanks for everything, guys!" Lina smiled as Team Five gathered their things. "We're heading off, we'll see you guys at the tower!" Lina, Shibano and Kisho waved as they began to walk off. The next day, they got an earth scroll and began to make their way to the tower; it wasn't easy, but they made it. When they got to the tower they were greeted by their sensei: Renji. He told them that they could open their scrolls and that it was a ninja's duty to follow every instruction that was given to them, even resisting the temptation of looking at classified information. Their sensei also ordered them to go get checked up and get some rest, along with getting some real food in their stomach. Lina yawned as she rested her head on the wall. She was exhausted. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the past few days, simply because every time she closed her eyes, flashbacks of the day she was 'possessed', as she put it, came to her mind.

"Hey, Lina!" Shibano called out to her, and Lina jumped and looked at her friend.

"Yeah, 'Bano?"

"TenTen and her team just got back!" Lina was sort of happy to hear the news. She really wanted them to make it for the next round. She had hoped that she could face Neji in the third round, to show him that she _is_ strong; that she's worth his 'time,' and she wanted to see Lee. Shibano, Lina, and Kisho, who was being dragged against his will-he didn't hate TenTen or Lee, but he didn't really like them much, went to go greet Lee and TenTen.

Shibano and TenTen were talking, along with Kisho and Lee about Taijutsu tactics, and Lina was standing there, sleeping.

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**A/N: Anyway I hope you enjoyed it, and please Review; I love reading feedback.**

**LoL~ Accio  
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	3. Hospital Flowers

**A/N: Wo! I've finally updated. Gah, Gomem gomen for taking so long! It's just there has been a lot going on ._.; But anyway. I wrote this chapter just last night with in only a few hours, and my lovely beta-reader and one my best friends: Kuki Salazar, finished editing it today! So I'm happy to upload it! Chapter four is finished, but it wont be uploaded until Friday of next week because my Beta is going to be busy for the next week. **

**But Anyway, the first half of this chapter is rushed, actually this chapter, the next chapter and part of Chapter six will be rushed. Reason: To simply put it, I hate the Chuunin Exam Arc. I've read it so many times, and I know most of you have too, so that's why I'm going through it with such a fast pace. Why did I start during the Chuunin Exam? You may ask. Well to show characterlization, bonds and relationships between the OC's and the Cannons. To introduce them, when all the other characters are, see makes sense. But there is another reason why, and you will soon find out why in later chapters. **

**Anyway, Neji is probably a little OOC, I tried to make him as much as a jerk as I could, especially at the end; Although I do have to say the second half of this chapter is by far one of my favorite moments that I've created. It not just shows the bond of friendship that Shibano, Kisho and Lina have, but also the moment that Neji and Lina have at the end; hense the title: Hospital Flowers. I do have to say that this chapter was really hard to find a song to fit. It was either between Flower Garden by Ayumi Hamasaki, or Hospital Flowers by Owl City; I obviously chose Hospital Flowers. But anyway; yes the second half of this chapter is one of my favorite, Pre- Lina's Epiphany, moments between Lina and Neji, and there are many more great ones to come but most of them wont come until after the Sasuke Retreval Arc, sad to say. But anyway, you're probably getting bored of me ranting on an on about moments and this chapter and such. **

**With out further ado, here is Chapter 3. **

**Song: Hospital Flowers by Owl City.**

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Preliminaries, that was the next part of the exam. Team five and the other genin were lined up in rows of three. Lina, Kisho, and Shibano stood between Naruto's and Neji's teams. Lina glared at the Hyuuga boy who stood next to her. She didn't want to be anywhere near him, he pissed her off too much. The proctor asked if any of them felt like stepping down from the preliminaries, and the white-haired guy Lina had seen with Naruto earlier opted himself out along with his teammate, Misumi. Now there was twenty-two genin left in the exam, and Lina knew that the number would be cut in half. Hayate Gekkou, their proctor, announced that the preliminaries will be one-on-one matches and the winner of each match will be the one to go on to the third exam. With that being said, a large screen appeared on the left side of the room, behind all the higher ups; Hayate told them that this will decide their fate. The screen then began to randomize everyone's names. When it finally stopped, Lina's eyes grew wide. Sasuke was up first.

"Dang, that's gotta suck for him." Kisho muttered. Lina nodded. "Having to go first, especially when his team were one of the last to arrive at the check point." Kisho continued. _Kisho's right, they didn't show up until almost the very last minute. Poor Sasuke. _Lina thought to herself.

"Now, for the rest of you, please head up to the upper level so we may begin the preliminary round." Hayate advised. All the genin and their jounin teachers headed up to the balcony above the fighting arena. With their luck, (along with the fact that Kisho and Shibano wanted to be near friends) Lina was stuck near Neji...again. Lina's eye twitched as she crossed her arms; she couldn't wait until he fought so that he'd leave and get hurt. Everyone watched the match between Sasuke and some guy named Yoroi Akadou; Sasuke won, obviously. Now everyone's eyes was to the black screen, awaiting the next pair of names to be shown. Lina held her breath, she hoped that she wouldn't be next, she wasn't ready to fight, granted, she had at least a day or two to rest, but after what she went through in the Forest of Death, she didn't want to fight.

Lina Hawatye vs. Zaku Abumi. Lina's eyes went wide.

"What!" Shibano and Kisho exclaimed. Lina took a deep breath as she made her way towards the stairs, but she was stopped. Lina looked over her shoulder to see Rock Lee with a solemn expression.

"Lina, you don't have to. You can forfeit." Lee told her, but Lina shook her head.

"No, Lee. I want to fight." She told him, lying to him and herself. Lee looked at her and nodded. He dropped his hand, and watched the bubblegum-haired girl walk down to the arena. Her opponent, Zaku, looked at her with wide eyes.

"You're the brat that almost tore off my arms during the second exam!" He shouted, and Lina just looked at him slightly shocked.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, that wasn't me!" She replied as her hands balled into fists.

"Before this goes any further, are you two ready to begin?" Hayate asked, Zaku nodded, as did Lina. "Good, you may begin." Hayate stepped out of the way. Zaku took this as a chance to charge at her, before Lina had a chance to block she was knocked across the arena.

"Lina!" Shibano shouted as she gripped the rail of the upper level. Lina groaned as she stumbled to get up. She glared at Zaku, though all he did was laugh.

"Aw, is the little baby angry? Are you gonna cry because you got hit? You're not so tough now, are you?" Zaku taunted. Lina's hand balled into fists again as she gritted her teeth. She didn't want to fight this guy, she didn't trust herself. "Just like your little friends..." He continued. Lina snarled.

"Shut up you...you...asshole!" Lina shouted.

"What are you going to do? You see, I was sort of scared to fight you because of how you were in the second exam. Now I look at you and I don't know why I was so sca-Ugh!" Zaku was cut off as Lina punching him in the stomach.

"Shut up, you asshole!" Lina shouted again. Shibano gasped, her hands moving to cover her mouth as Kisho took on a look of surprise. He had never heard Lina swear…well, only when she was talking to and/or about the Hyuuga boy.

"Oh, I see I got you angry. Good, maybe you'll be more of a challenge!" He yelled as he punched her in the face, sending her back a little. Zaku punched her over the head, causing her to tumble down to the floor; the dark haired sound ninja kicked her in the stomach, sending her back a little farther; he just kept advancing. Lina tried getting up, but as she rolled onto her hands and knees, Zaku kicked her again. This kept going until Lina was up against the wall. Lina used the support of the wall to stand up, her entire upper torso was killing her. She made to push off the wall to hit Zaku, but he punched her into it instead. Over and over again, he punched her. "Hah! Just like your team mates, a bunch of weaklings." He spat as Lina fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Her head was bleeding and she could feel bruises forming. Zaku turned towards Hayate. "It's obvious, she's in no position to carry on. I'm the better shinobi. This match is finished."

"I-" Hayate coughed, "It isn't your say to declare who wins or looses, or to-cough, cough-determine when the match is finished. It's only finished-cough, cough, cough- when one of the competitors are dead, or incapable of continuing, and since-cough, cough-neither of those apply to Ms. Hawatye, then I see no reason to end this match." Hayate told Zaku.

"What!" Zaku exclaimed as he turned around and saw Lina standing up, breathing heavily and her palms clenched into fists.

"What's going with Lina? Her chakra seems weird..." Kisho asked Shibano, but Shibano didn't have an answer for Kisho, all she could do was turn away from her pink-haired friend and to the Hyuuga boy near her.

"Byakugan!" He exclaimed as he looked at Lina and his eyes narrowed. "It's like it was in the Forest of Death. She's angry, and because she's this angry, her chakra level is rising." Neji explained to the people around him. "And soon, if not already, her eyes are going to change to how they were before." He finished. Lee, Tenten, and Shibano all shared the same knowing look. Kisho and Naruto were utterly lost and confused as to what Neji was talking about.

"What are you talking about? Lina's eyes can't change!" Kisho exclaimed.

"Yes they can, and they did-look." Neji told Kisho as he nodded toward the beat-up girl. Lina lifted her head and glared at Zaku, small veins forming on the sides of her face, near her eyes. Naruto and Kisho gasped.

"Tha-that looks like..." Kisho stuttered.

"Her eyes look like your eyes, Neji!" Naruto exclaimed, "except they're green and she has pupils." Naruto exclaimed as Neji nodded his head.

Zaku looked at Lina with fear in his eyes. "No way," he muttered. Lina started towards him, cracking her knuckles. Zaku stepped back, stretching out his arm to send his sound waves at her. Lina saw the waves and sent them back to him. Zaku keeled over, holding his hands over his ears. Lina walked closer and kicked him in the groin. Zaku fell to the floor, clutching his private area in his hands. Lina kicked him in the face, which sent him sliding back. Lina kicked him again in the stomach. She stopped for a moment to let him get up. Zaku stood up and staggered backwards until he was about two yards from her; he smirked as he ran towards her, but she did a round-house kick that sent him flying across the arena. Lina ran towards him and forced her foot onto his back and pushed him to the floor. Lina sat on Zaku's back as she punched him in the head over, and over, and over again.

"Who. Is. The. Weakling. Now!" She shouted as she continued to punch him in the head. Zaku tried to use his hands and get her away from him, but she only deflected it-but when his hand accidentally touched her butt, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. She pulled his arm all the way up and was trying to dislocate his shoulder. She grabbed his other arm and started doing the same thing.

All of Lina's friends were up at the upper level looking at her with fear and sad-filled eyes. "Someone's gotta stop her," Shibano whispered. Neji looked at Lina's best friend, then to his own Sensei.

"Gai-sensei. We've got to intervene." Neji told his Jounin teacher. "We've seen her like this before. If she carries on like this her chakra level will get too high and it could disperse, leaving her dead." He spoke casually.

"D-DEAD!" Kisho exclaimed. Gai looked at Neji, and then at Hayate. Hayate nodded, he knew it was time to step in. Gai and Renji appeared down in the arena, grabbing hold of Lina and pulling her off Zaku.

"I declare this match finished. Winner, Lina Hawatye."

"Let. Me. Go! Let me kill the bastard! He called me weak! He hurt Shibano! He hurt Kisho! Let me at him!" Lina shouted as she flailed and squirmed to get out of the grip of the two jounin.

"Lina, calm down." Renji said to Lina softly, trying to calm her down. He knew what her temper was like, but he had never seen it like this before.

"No! Not until I kill him!" Lina shouted, but Gai and Renji brought her back up to the balcony.

"Lina..." Shibano started cautiously. Lina looked at Shibano for a moment, her eyes not changing, but her chakra level was going down, slowly.

"Lina! Stop it, now!" Neji commanded as he looked at the pink-haired girl that was currently in his sensei's grasp. "If you don't stop, you could hurt Shibano." Lina's eyes grew wide. She had heard that somewhere before.

_The opal-eyed boy sighed as he grew closer to her and whispered in her ear, "you need stop, you could kill Shibano..." _

Lina calmed down, as did her chakra, and her eyes went back to normal. The green-eyed girl looked at Shibano and jerked out of the jounin's grasp, hugging Shibano tightly. All Shibano could do was pat her friend on the back. "Shibano..." Lina started.

"Yeah, Lima-bean?" Shibano asked using her nickname for her.

"I'm sorry..." Lina apologized before passing out.

* * *

"Mmm, what?"

"Oh good, she's awake!" Shibano exclaimed with a smile. "Well,

hello there, sleeping beauty!"

"Wha?" Lina asked as she blinked. She saw Shibano and Kisho staring at her. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital..."

"What!"

"Yeah! You kind of passed out after your match with Zaku, I guess you were beat tired. I would too if I had went through that." Shibano explained.

"Yeah, shame though. You missed some really great matches! Like Kiba and Naruto went up against each other; Naruto won, by farting in Kiba's face! Hah, that was priceless." Kisho laughed. Lina gave Kisho a "What the hell are you talking about" look.

"Ignore him, he's been obsessing over that match ever since it happened. Anyway! I went up against Shino, he won, it was a good match. Kisho went up against one of the Sand Nin! Kankurou I think was his name, he won too. Then Sakura and Ino dished it out; that was a draw. It was a good match though."

"Yeah! Then that other Sand Nin-the chick-yeah, her and Tenten went up against each other, sand chick won."

"Yeah, then Shikamaru went up against that girl sound nin!"

"Then it was the far-"

"Shut up, Kisho! We already know Naruto won!"

"Hey, stop shouting at me!"

"Well stop obsessing over a fart!"

"But it's funny!"

"So!" Shibano shouted. "Anyway, then Choji and that other sound ninja guy went up against each other; Dosu I think his name was. That was a draw too."

"Yeah and we can't forget those bastards either!" Kisho shouted, noticing that Shibano left out two more matches.

"What?" Lina asked. "What about Lee? Who'd he go up against? And Hinata?"

"Well, you see Lina..." Shibnao started cautiously, thinking of the words that were right to say.

"Rock Lee went up against that Gaara kid, Gaara totally destroyed Lee."

"Kisho!" Shibano and Lina shouted at the same time.

"Is Lee okay?" Lina asked, worried.

"Well, the thing is Lina. Lee can't be a Shinobi anymore."

"WHAT!"

"Well...when he went up against Gaara, Gaara literally _destroyed_ Rock Lee. His muscles and tissue is torn to shreds." Shibano told Lina. Lina's eyes grew wide, and tears started to form._ Not Lee, he-he couldn't have been beaten. There's no way that...No! He'll become a Ninja again. _ Lina thought. Then she thought of something, if Gaara and Lee fought each other…

"Did Hinata fight Neji?" Lina asked seriously as she looked at Shibano and Kisho, they looked at each other waiting for the other to say something.

"Well..." Shibano started.

"The damn bastard almost killed Hinata." Kisho snarled. Lina's eyes grew wide.

"WHAT!"

"Yeah, he started babbling on about how it wasn't fair that she was part of the main branch, while he, the Hyuuga prodigy, was in the second branch or whatever. He was crazy pissed off.

"Is she okay now?" Lina questioned.

"Yeah, we saw her earlier before we came here. She should be fine soon, but Neji did some damage to her, he blocked off all of her chakra points." Shibano replied. Lina clenched eyes shut as she gripped the hospital blanket.

"When I get out of here, I'll give him a piece of my mind." Lina sneered.

"Hey, Lina, cool it. What's done is done. There's nothing you can do to change it." Kisho stated seriously.

"He almost killed Hinata!"

"Yeah, I know! I was pissed too! I wanted to kill him when he walked passed me! I almost punched his lights out; but I didn't, I knew it wouldn't get me any where. Plus, it wouldn't be a good way to thank him for what he did to help you."

"What?" Lina asked shocked.

"You were all scary pissed off. That look in your eye when you looked at him...I've never seen you look that way. I know you hate the ass, but...he got you stop, he 'calmed' you down, so to say. He said something to you, and hell, whatever it was-it worked." Lina looked from Kisho to Shibano, who nodded.

"It's true." Lina looked down to her blanket with confused eyes, thinking about what happened. Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening.

"Look Neji, she's awake!" Called a familiar female voice. Lina looked up and saw Tenten, followed by the Hyuuga boy. "How are you!" She asked with a smile on her face.

"I'm good. Shibano and Kisho filled me in on what I missed." Lina answered.

"Well that's our cue to leave; Kisho, let's go see Lee." Shibano started as she grabbed Kisho's arm.

"Hey, wait! Shibano, no! I wanna see Lina yelling at Neji!" Kisho whined as he was dragged out of the room. Lina just blinked at her teammates and sighed.

"Oh, we got these for you!" Tenten smiled as she held up a small vase with five pink tulips. "Shibano told me you like Tulips the best, and pink ones mainly; so Neji and I stopped by your aunt and uncle's flower shop to get them for you!" Lina blinked at the flowers as Tenten put them on the table beside her. Lina smiled at the brown-haired girl.

"Thanks, Tenten." Lina thanked the older girl. Tenten smiled and nodded.

"Well, I have to go check on Lee. Plus, Neji has something he wants to talk to you about. I'll see you soon Lina! Feel better." Tenten waved as she exited the room. Lina turned to Neji and glared.

"YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HINATA!" Lina shouted at him.

"Hn. I have my reasons."

"Bull!"

"Whatever."

Lina sighed as she looked at the tulips. "Did Shibano really tell Tenten I liked tulips?" Lina asked.

"No, she was getting some for Lee, then your cousin told me that you liked Tulips and that I should get them for you." Lina blushed.

"Y-you bought them?"

"Yeah. Tenten bought Lee's, I bought yours." He answered. Lina's face redden more; w_hen I go home, I'm going to kill Ino,_ Lina thought. "It was also cheaper then buying a dozen flowers." Lina's eye twitched at Neji's last comment. _That ass! Why can't he just admit that he was okay with buying them!_

"We would've gotten you a balloon, but Shibano got you one yesterday and Naruto was being an idiot and accidentally popped it by throwing a kunai at it." Neji told her. Lina looked at him funny.

"THAT JERK! I'LL KILL HIM!" Lina shouted. Neji just blinked. "I like balloons." Neji shook his head. "You can sit on the bed, you know." Lina told him as she brought her knees up closer to her chest. Neji nodded and sat on the corner of the bed. "So what, no cards! What type of friends are you! Get me flowers, balloons but NO CARDS?"

"Well..."

"Oh god, don't tell me, Naruto blew them up?" Lina laughed.

"Well, no. The first day we came, we saw Shibano and Kisho making cards; later after lunch when we all came back. They were gone, we saw them in the trash." Lina just started laughing really hard.

"Oh, oh that's funny. The nurse probably thought it was trash! Shibano and Kisho can't really make cards" Lina laughed. "So what did you need to talk to me about?" Lina asked, remembering why he was there.

"Here." He told her as he handed her an envelope. Lina looked at it weird, then at him. She was going to ask what it was about. "Just, open it and read it." He told her. "I haven't read it so I've got as much as a clue as you do about what it's about."

"But who is it from?" Lina asked.

"My uncle." This sparked as a surprise in Lina. _What does Neji's uncle have to say to me?_ Lina thought as she opened the letter.

_ Lina Hawatye, _

_ I heard what happened to you at the preliminaries of the chuunin exam. When you are released from the hospital, come and see me. _

_ Hiashi Hyuuga._

Lina just blinked as she read it again. "So, what does it say?" Neji asked her.

"Oh…he knows what happened to me during my match, and told me to come and see him." Lina answered Neji; then she looked up at him. "Did you tell him?" She asked, and Neji just stayed quiet. "You told him didn't you!"

"I told you during the second exam I'll talk to my uncle about it." Neji replied. Lina looked at him.

"I don't get you." Lina told him; he looked at her confused. "When it's just you and me, you're an okay person, someone I enjoy being around, but as soon as someone comes walking over, you change. You go from being decent, to being an ass." She told him as she looked back down at the letter. "Did you mean what you said back there, in the Forest of Death I mean?"

"Which part?"

"About stopping me from hurting..." She didn't need to go on; Neji knew what she was talking about.

"Yeah. I did." He spoke.

* * *

**A/N: Ah and there is the end. Well like I said at the beginning, I tried making Neji in character as much as possible. He was sort of a jerk at the end with the whole Flower thing. But anyway, Chapter four is going to be posted next week; I PROMISE! D Also, any idea's for songs that relate to family? It would be greatly appriciated. :)**

**R&R, I love to hear feedback and suggestions for future chapters.**


	4. Ode To My Family

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter four! Woo! I will also post Chapter five tomorrow, and maybe chapter six (That's if I can finish it tonight and tomorrow.) Well This chapter was bleh, not my favorite; but it explains stuff, like Lina's weird way of acting. Hiashi is deffinately out of character, (well...for as much as we know about him, he's strict and slightly cold) but you'll see why as you read. This chapter is, in fact, rushed. Like I said, I don't like this chapter but it was necessary. **

**Thank's to Kuki Salazar for beta-ing this :).**

**Also, this chapter was EXTREMELY hard to find a song for, I mean it took me an hour to find one song that some what fit, and it doesn't even really fit at all. The only reason why I chose it was because it was about family (well sort of) and Lina's parents are mentioned in this, and a little bit about them. So..yeah, again, not one of my favorite chapters but meh it's needed. Although next chapter is, I have to say, my favorite chapter so far! It's just so...amusingly amusing :), you'll find out soon. **

**Song: Ode To My Family by The Cranberries**.

* * *

"What do you mean you haven't started training yet!" Kisho shouted at Lina as they ate ramen at Ichiraku's.

"Exactly what I said. I haven't started training yet. I haven't found someone to help me with this thing I have, and I doubt, after my performance during the preliminaries, that anyone would want to help me train." Lina replied as she finished her miso ramen.

"But you don't know that, Lina-" Shibano started.

"Who'd want to train someone who'd get so pissed off that she'd want to kill you?" Lina asked. Shibano looked at her friend, then went back to her ramen.

"Oh, come on, stop being so negative! I'm sure there's someone crazy enough that will help you out for this exam." Kisho assured Lina as he ordered another bowl. Lina sighed and paid for her ramen. "Eh! You're leaving?" He asked with his mouth full; Lina rolled her eyes at him and gave him a disgusted look before answering.

"Yeah, I've got to go to Neji's house." Kisho almost choked on his ramen.

"W-wh-what! Why!"

"Because, I'm going there so we can screw training and make out all day." Lina said in a bored tone, causing Kisho to choke even more on his noodles.

"W-WHAT! I THOUGHT YOU HATED THE BASTARD!" He shouted and Shibano started laughing really hard.

"I do hate him, Kisho. Gosh, can't you take a joke?" Lina asked, then started laughing . "I can't believe you actually believed me. Gosh Kisho, you're so gullible!" Lina continued to laugh while Kisho glared heatedly at his two female friends. Lina stopped laughing, catching her breath. "Actually, I've got an appointment over there, with Mr. Hyuuga; he found out what happened in the preliminaries and the Forest of Death. He probably has some information that could help me figure out what's wrong with me," Lina said to Kisho. Kisho turned to Shibano with a confused expression.

"Did you know about this?"

"Well, duh! Lina told me what happened between her and Neji when she sleptover at my house last night!"

"SOMETHING HAPPENED BETWEEN YOU AND THE HYUUGA ASS!" Kisho shouted.

"No! Now shut up. I've got to leave, I was supposed to go over there when I got out of the hospital. I'll see you guys later." Lina waved goodbye as she stepped out from under the cloth signs, only to bump into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry." Lina apologized. She looked up to see Anko Mitarashi. "Oh...Anko-sensei. I'm sorry, I didn't see you." Lina apologized again.

"Ah, it's okay kid." Anko grinned.

"HEY!" Kisho exclaimed as he moved the cloth to see Anko and Lina. "Anko's crazy! Maybe she'll help you out!"

"Kisho! That's not a nice thing to say to someone who is superior to you." Lina glared.

"Kisho's right! Anko, would you please help Lina get ready for the third exam?" Shibano asked Anko.

"Yeah! She's convinced that no one will help her out!" Kisho spoke up towards the older woman. Anko looked at the three genin, stopping and staring at Lina.

"Hey, you're that girl that went crazy in the second match, aren't you?" Anko asked, causing Lina to sweat drop.

"Hehheh…yeah, that's me..."

"Well, Lina, meet me at Training Ground Six at three. We'll start your training." Anko told her and walked off. Lina blinked, confused as to what had just happened.

"See, I told you Lina! There was bound to be someone crazy enough to help you out." Kisho laughed as he continued on his second bowl of ramen. Lina hit him over the head, then left to go to the Hyuuga compound.

When Lina reached the gates of the Hyuuga compound, she stood there looking at them. She was debating on whether to enter or not, she didn't know what was going to happen.

"What are you doing here?" A voice called out. Lina jumped and turned around, to see Neji there with his arms crossed.

"Oh, hi there."

"You're not answering my question. What are you doing here?"

"Uh...I'm here to see your uncle."

"You were supposed to come here a week ago, Lina."

"Yeah... I know. But I wasn't allowed out of my house until yesterday!" Lina replied, lying. She has been out of the house all week, she just wasn't sure about coming to the Hyuuga compound.

"You're lying." He stated firmly as he walked passed her, opened the gate and began to walk in. Neji stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Well, aren't you coming?" He asked. Lina blinked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Lina walked behind Neji into the Hyuuga estate. She looked around, it was nothing new to her, she'd been here tons of times before.

"I don't know why you didn't just come in. You've been here before, right?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, to hang with Hinata when we were in the academy; I haven't been here since the graduation exam." Lina replied, Neji nodded in response.

"Ah, Lina." A deep, male voice called. Lina looked up to see a man who looked like Neji, but older. _This must be Neji's fa-I mean Uncle._ Lina thought.

"Hello, Mr. Hyuuga." Lina bowed in respect. Neji grunted and left, she presumed to start training for the third exam.

"Come in, I need to speak with you." Lina followed him in the house, after taking off her shoes. "I expected you last week when my nephew told me that you were discharged."

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, I-"

"No need to explain. I expect that receiving a note from almost a total stranger is something to think about." He stated calmly, and Lina looked down to her feet as they continued to walk. Hiashi Hyuuga stopped. Lina looked up and stopped abruptly, not wanting to collide with the older man. He slid open the door for the young girl, "Please come in, we have many things to discuss." Lina nodded as she stepped into the room. Hiashi walked in after her. "Please, sit." He motioned for her to take a seat on the floor in front of a small table, the pink haired girl nodded as she sat on her knees. "How are you?" He asked.

"I'm fine sir, how are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Would you like some tea?" Hiashi asked.

"Oh, yes, please. Thank you." She thanked him as he handed her a cup of warm tea. Lina picked it up and took a small sip. There was silence for a small period of time. Lina didn't know what to say or do, all she could do was sip her warm tea.

"My nephew has told me what happened during the second and preliminary exam; it seems he believes that you may be in possession of a Kekkai Genkai, or bloodline limit." Hiashi spoke; Lina looked at him. "He didn't tell me who you were, not until I asked him. When he said your name, 'Hawatye,' I knew..." He continued, his voice went soft. Lina looked at him weirdly. _Could this still be the same strict father I've seen here before? _Lina thought. "You see, I knew your parents quite well growing up. Your father and I were on the same team as genin, my brother and your mother were on the same genin team as well." Lina's green eyes grew wide. _He-he knew my parents._

"We-were you friends?" Lina asked quietly, looking down to her tea.

"Yes." He answered her. Lina gripped the cup, it was the first time she actually met someone who knew her parents, other than her uncle. "From what Neji has told me, it seems like you've unlocked your blood line limit. I, however, was very surprised to find out that you had no idea that you had it. Tell me, has Inoichi Yamanaka at least told you about your family?" Hiashi asked, but Lina shook her head.

"No sir, he doesn't like talking about my mother. He did once when I was younger, though." She replied, Hiashi nodded his head.

"Well, I guess I'll start from the beginning. Seems like you already know what a blood line limit is. There are two that has resided in Konoha for years: the Byakugan and the Sharingan. The Sharingan descended from the Byakugan. There was another clan, which resided in Konoha before the Uchiha Clan did, the Hawatye Clan. The Hawatye Clan had a Kekkai Genkai, called the Kazegan." He started explaining. Lina looked at him strangely, listening to every word he said. "Like the Sharingan, the Kazegan is a mutated version of the Byakugan. Unlike the Sharingan, the Kazegan is more closely related to the Byakugan, meaning they have almost the same abilities."

"What do you mean 'almost' the same abilities?" Lina questioned.

"The Byakugan allows the user to see nearly three hundred and sixty degrees, we also see through solid objects. The Kazegan, can only see the wind movements within three hundred and sixty degrees. It, along with the Byakugan, have the same Blind Spot. One of the other abilities that the Kazegan has is that it is able to control the wind that they see, even manipulate it." Hiashi explained to her; Lina's eyes went wide. _That explains how I wasn't effected by the sound Ninjas in the Forest of Death_. "Ah, by your expression, I take that this has answered your question as to why you weren't effected by the sound nin." Hiashi stated, and Lina nodded. "There is so much more to the Kazegan than what I have told you, but what other things it can do, I have no clue. What I've told you is what your father had told me, and what I've seen your father do in battle. Konoha has no records of the Kazegan, seeing as the Hawatye clan fled Konoha many years ago. The first Hokage believed that having three large, powerful clans would cause problems with territory, so the Hawatye clan left to live in the Wind country, where it seems to be more fit for them."

"But...if the Hawatye clan lives in the Wind Country, how did my father end up being a Konoha ninja, Mr. Hyuuga?" Lina asked.

"His parents left the Wind country to live in Konoha, to ally their clan and the Hyuuga clan by marriage, but your father fell in love with Hinani Yamanaka. His mother, being the wretched women she was, was not pleased and disowned him. Later she and her husband left to go back to the Land of Wind." He told her. Lina sat there, and looked into her tea cup, her tea was nearly finished.

"Thank you, Mr. Hyuuga, for telling me this." Lina thanked him as she finished her tea. "I'm really sorry for leaving, but I've got to start training for the final exam." Lina told him politely as she stood up, as did he. Mr. Hyuuga nodded his head. Lina turned around and bowed to him. "Thank you again. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome." He nodded to her. "Lina," he called out to her and Lina stopped to look at the older Hyuuga, "you look like your parents." Hiashi gave her a very small smile. Lina smiled at him and blushed. She thanked him once more, and stepped out of the room, sliding the door closed behind her. Lina walked to the front of the compound, slipped on her shoes and made her exit. She stopped when she heard grunting coming from around the corner. Being curious, she walked quietly to the corner of the house. Green eyes peeked from behind the wall, only to see Neji taking a breath. After a few moments of taking a small breather, Neji spun around in a circle and Lina's eyes grew wide as she saw a faint chakra sphere surround Neji, but disappear as quickly as it came. Neji stopped again and glared into the ground. Neji looked up and over at Lina, who gasped. The girl turned around quickly and ran to the Hyuuga gates.

* * *

"Sweet, you made it!" Anko exclaimed as she leaned up against a tree. Lina looked at her new teacher with a confused expression.

"You thought I wouldn't come?"

"No, I did, I just didn't think you'd be on time."

"But you said to come at three, and it's three." Anko sighed and shook her head. Lina sweat dropped at her teacher. Her apple-green eyes caught sight of a large, tan boomerang leaning up against the same tree Anko was. "Hey, what's that?" Lina asked, nodding towards the giant boomerang.

"Oh. I got this for you! I thought it would be neat to have, seeing as you don't know who you're going to be fighting against." Anko told her as she picked it up and handed it to Lina. Lina took hold of it and fell to the ground, the boomerang falling on top of her.

"What the hell! How am I supposed to use it if I can't even hold it!" Lina shouted.

"Oh, well, another reason I got it was to improve your strength. You see, after I left I went to do a background check on you, to see what I signed myself up for. Well kid, I kinda was upset when I saw your stats. Average Ninjutsu, below average taijutsu, above average Genjutsu though. I went into the weapon storage to find the heaviest weapon I could find! And, well, this was it." She laughed. _This woman's going to kill me before I even get to compete in the chuunin exams_, Lina thought. "Plus, when I saw it, I could so see you using this against that girl from the sand."

"Is that who-"

"Nope. The third exam proctor hasn't made up his mind on who is going to battle against who yet. You find out on exam day." Anko told her; and Lina nodded, finally able to stand up. "Now, this is to improve your strength, we're mainly working on your strength, speed, and Taijutsu for the next two weeks. I doubt it'll be up to where I want it to be, but you'll be farther than you are right now." Anko told Lina seriously. "Now I want you to pick that up, and try and throw it." Lina sighed as she tried to pick the giant boomerang up. When she finally did, she tried to throw it, but it just fell on the floor. "Well, we're going to have a lot of work to do." Anko stated and Lina nodded.

Three hours, two sore arms, and lots of pain and sweat later, Lina was finally able to lift the boomerang above her head, swing it around and throw it at the nearest tree. "Alright! I'm proud of you, Hawatye!" Anko cheered as she patted Lina on the back. "I expect to see you here tomorrow at ten in the morning! We've got two weeks worth of training to do in one week. Oh, and by the way, you may want to put your hair up, it'll be easier. See ya!" Anko waved as she walked off. Lina looked at her new teacher with a tired expression, what had she gotten herself into? Lina sighed as she began to walk home.

"Lina!" Lina stopped walking and turned around. Her green eyes met opal ones.

"Oh...hey, Neji." Lina said tiredly as she turned around and continued walking.

"Why were you spying on me?" He asked as he walked beside her.

"Huh? Oh…I wasn't spying; I was curious about the noise, that's all." Lina told him as she yawned. It was only six and she was beat, all she wanted to do was go home, change, and go to bed. "Whatever you were doing, it was really cool. I hope you perfect it." Lina told him with a tired smile.

"Why are you so tired?"

"I just finished training with Anko. I've got to build up my strength before the final exam, and this stupid thing-" she nodded her head back towards the boomerang, "is going to 'help' me do that. It took me three hours just to pick it up, swing it, and throw into a tree. My arms hurt so badly." Lina whined as Neji sighed. The two walked in silence for a few moments until Lina came to a stop. "Well, this is me." She stated as she smiled, pointing to her house. Neji looked at her, then at her house, then he saw the vase of flowers that he had bought in the window. _I guess that's her room. She kept the flowers? I thought she'd throw them out._ Neji thought as he looked from the window back and Lina. "Thanks for walking with me. I'll see you around." Lina smiled and started walking down the path to her front door.

* * *

"Lina!" Anko's voice called out. Lina turned around with a smile on her face, but it soon faltered when she saw the serious look on Anko's face.

"What's wrong, Anko-sensei?"

"There's something I have to tell you, and you're not gonna like it."

"Wh-what is it?"

"Well the third proctor has finally matched everyone for their matches tomorrow..."

"And?"

Anko sighed as she looked at Lina. "It seems you are to fight Dosu, of the sound."

"Why wouldn't I like that! That jerk almost killed Kisho!"

"But you see Lina, he was found dead last night." Anko told her seriously. Lina's eyes grew wide.

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah, someone killed him; we don't know who, but we're on it." Anko told her, then paused. "There is an issue that has been brought to all the proctors and jounin of the exam: because we now have nine competitors, instead of ten, it seems that..."

"I wont be competing?" Lina asked, balling her hands into fists.

"Well, no…yeah. There are two options being proposed to you: You can take Dosu's death as a victory, and you'll be graded on your participation so far, or...you can step out of the exam all together." Anko told Lina the choices. Lina glared down at the ground, her jaw clenched and her finger nails digging into her palms. "So...what are you gonna choose, kid?"

"I'm dropping out."

"What! After all that har-"

"What hard work? It isn't going to be seen by anyone."

"Now kid, that's not true. I've seen it."  
"I've made up my mind, Anko." Lina said as she grabbed the boomerang, and was going to hand it to Anko but she stopped her.

"Nah, Lina, you keep it. I brought it for you." Anko chuckled. "Just keep up the hard work, okay, kid?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Well...see ya!" Anko waved and walked off. Lina then took after her sensei's example and started to walk-well, storm-off.

"Huh, Lina?" Shibano blinked as she, Naruto and Kisho saw Lina storm down the street. Shibano checked her watch. "Wha? It's only ten! How can she be mad already? Doesn't she have last minute training with Anko?" Shibano asked as she looked at Kisho, though all he did was shrug his shoulders. Kisho and Shibano stood up, then Naruto gulped down his last mouth full of ramen before following the two.

"UGH!" Lina shouted as she grabbed her boomerang and threw it, breaking several trees in the process. Tenten jumped as she dropped some kunai, and Neji stopped in mid-spin to see the pink-haired girl catch the boomerang as it flew back at her. Lina turned around and threw it again, past Tenten and Neji, breaking some more trees. Neji and Tenten ducked as the boomerang flew back towards Lina.

"Lina!" Shibano exclaimed as she, Kisho, and Naruto showed up on the scene. "What's wrong?"

"Dosu's Dead." Lina stated simply as she threw down the boomerang.

"What, so? There's nothing to be upset about. I mean we all hated the bastard." Kisho spoke up; now Neji and Tenten had joined the small group.

"It was him, he was the person I was going to be fighting in the chuunin exams." Lina spoke.

"Wh-what? How'd you find out who you were going up against before the rest of us!" Naruto shouted.

"Because Anko gave me two options: Take Dosu's death as a victory or drop out of the exam. I decided to drop out."

"WHY!" Naruto and Kisho shouted.

"What's the point of winning a match she didn't fight?" Neji spoke up, saying what Lina was about to say.

"But still..." Kisho stated, folding his arms over his chest. "There's nothing to throw a fit about Lina." Lina punched him over the head. "Ow! Crazy bitch, what was that for!"

"For being an asshole, that's what!" Lina shouted at Kisho. "Do you realize how much I've worked these past three weeks? All of that training, wasted!" Lina glared.

"Aw, Lima-bean! It wasn't for a waste, you're stronger now. Now you have a super special awesome boomerang that you can hit Kisho with." Shibano smiled, and Kisho stared, wide-eyed, at Shibano.

"Wh-what? No way! Don't give her ideas, Shibano!" Kisho whispered to his brown-haired friend.

* * *

**A/N: Short-ish :/ Oh well, this chapter was rushed, it didn't take me long at all to write so blehk. If I could, I'd delete this chapter and pretend that it doesn't exsist but I can't. Next chapter though, I'm proud of D. To let you all know, I'm pretty much skipping the last exam it's to much work for me to do, so yeah; I sorta explained what happened in Chapter 5, but not really. Although I'm pretty sure anyone who reads (If in fact it's read at all -_-;;;) has watched the Chuunin Exams Arc, so they already know what's coming in Chapter five soo I'm not really giving away all that much. But like I said before, chapter five is my favorite so far, I just nearly died of laughter when I was writing it. So, let that be that. Read and Review! I love reading feedback, so please send some :) Just don't flame, .;; **


	5. He Lives In You

**A/N: Yay! Chapter five is here! :D. Like I said last chapter, this chapter is my favorite so far. Even though the beginning and the ending is rather, heavey and sad; but everything else is very light and unamusingly amusing. It's a nice break from the past four chapters, which have been pretty serious (for the most part at least), the next two chapters are going to be...light-ish? There really isn't a lot going to happen; just a filler chapter, something to put in before the Sasuke Arc. Then that's where it's going to get really...serious. I am really looking forward to writing chapters eight through elevan; only because I've been waiting for it since I started re-writing this thing. When you read them, you all will probably think that I'm a horrible person, but it is necessary to the plot (or...the story I should say.) But anyway; yes chapters 8-11 are going to be rather, serious; after that is going to be missions and more character developement. This story is probably going to have maybe...25 chapters? Give or take one or two; It will be my longest fanfic. (For some reason I put the entire story with in seven to 9 chapters) Then when I'm done with this I'm starting Shippuden. Yay haha. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do; I tried making Neji in character, which is why this is so unamusingly amusing; because he isn't "amused" the entire time. So please enjoy. The song for this chapter is He Lives In You from Lion King 2.**

Lina sighed as she sat up in her bed. She looked out the window, the sky was filled with clouds. The pink-haired girl pushed her green blanket off her, swung her legs over the edge of her bed and sat there. She didn't want to get up, she didn't even want to wake up at all; she didn't want to believe because she didn't want to admit that he was gone. Lina's green eyes narrowed at the floor of her bedroom, her palms balled into loose fists. She stood up and walked over to her drawer to pull out a black yukata, a mourning yukata. She pulled off her pajamas and slipped on the black yukata. Lina grabbed her Konoha headband and wore it proudly on her head, over her forehead. She looked at her self in the mirror, deciding to leave her hair down and not in the usual high pigtails. Lina turned away from the mirror and walked out of her room, shutting the door behind her. She stopped when she came face to face with her blonde haired cousin, Ino. They shared a sad smile, a way of greeting each other good morning. The two girls walked down to the front of the Yamanaka flower shop; they, along with Mr. and Mrs. Yamanaka, left the building.

Walking down the street, Lina caught sight of Shibano and Kisho walking, Lina looked at her uncle, who nodded; the pink haired girl ran to catch up with her friends. Shibano and Kisho turned their heads and greeted Lina with a small smiles. Team Five began to walk to the location of the funeral. On the way, the three saw numerous people: Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, Tenten, who was also walking with Lee, Hinata, and Neji, Shino, and the list went on. When they got to the top of the Hokage building; Team Five separated. Shibano went to go stand between Naruto and Shino, Kisho stood next to Sasuke, and Lina stood in between Ino and Neji.

The past couple of days had been exhausting: unexpectedly, the final match of the Chuunin Exams had been interrupted by an explosion, later learning that Konoha was under attack by Orochimaru. Team Five had some injuries from the fights that they were in; Lina had a bandage on her cheek from a kunai that grazed her, she had cuts and bruises on all parts of her body: some on her legs, and her arms, and a few on her face. To say the least, she packed in a pretty good fight. The sky began to darken, not from the day leaving, but because clouds had started to get darker. Within seconds, rain drops started falling from the sky.

"Even the sky is mourning over the loss of the Hokage." Lina spoke faintly. Neji looked at her for a moment before turning his focus forward again. "It's sort of ironic that it's raining on a day like this, don't you think, Neji?" Lina asked the Hyuuga boy next to her, her eyes closing.

"Hn. It isn't irony, it's weather." He told her quietly, then looked at her. Her small hands were gripping the sides of her skirt, her green eyes were shut tightly, and her lips were pressed together. He knew that she was trying not to cry; he had to agree, the Hokage's death was sad indeed and the rain was only making it worse. "He died honorably." He spoke to her as the rain began to pour harder. Lina opened her eyes and looked up at him, his normally cold eyes were soft, his normally emotionless face was soft and filled with sadness. Neji knew she was crying, not even the pouring rain could mask the baby waterfalls cascading from Lina's apple green eyes.

"Are you sad, Neji?" Lina asked as she looked at him. Neji closed his eyes and a small, sad smile appeared on his face.

"How can I not be sad? Even the sky is mourning." Neji answered her, using her words about the sky. Lina looked from him and to the front, where the picture of the Third Hokage, and all those who lost their lives, stood.

"I remember when my parents died. I was staying with Uncle Inoichi; Lord Hokage came to the Yamanaka's to tell me that they were dead. He told me in such a sad and gentle way; I knew he was sad that they had lost their lives." Lina spoke, her voice cracking a little from crying. "He told me that it's okay to be sad when someone looses their life, or when you loose someone important to you, but he also told me to be proud of my parents because they gave their lives to save Konoha, and to save me. It was their 'Will of Fire' he said." Neji turned his gaze back on her and laid his hand on her shoulder.

"You should be proud," he agreed, "you should be proud of those who lost their lives." Neji told her, and he let his hand fall. One at a time, people lined up, each grabbing a white flower to pay their respects to the dead. Lina stood behind Neji, who was behind Tenten, who was with Lee, Shibano and Kisho were behind Lina. Neji laid down his flower, and bowed slightly before walking away. Lina walked up. She placed the white flower down and bowed, remembering her last encounter with the Third.

"_It's been almost ten years, hasn't it?" An elderly male voice asked softly as Lina jumped. She stood up and bowed when she saw that it was Hokage Sarutobi. Lina looked back at her parents graves and nodded. "You've coped quite well, for one whose experienced loss at such a young age."_

_ "You told me to be proud of them, Lord Hokage. I am proud of them, it's a little sad, but I don't think they'd want me to be sad about it." Lina told him as she smiled sadly at her parents graves._

_ "Lina, you'll be thirteen soon, won't you? In just four months, you'll be thirteen." He asked, casually._

_ "Yes, sir." Lina nodded as she turned to him._

_ "They would be very proud of you." Hokage Sarutobi smiled at her. "Well, I've got to go back to work." Sarutobi bid her goodbye and walked away._

Before being released, the rain stopped and the clouds began to slowly disappear, and the sun's rays started to peek out. Lina looked up with a confused face, Neji turned slightly to look at her. "Well...aren't you coming?" Neji asked, and Lina looked away from the sky and nodded, smiling at the Hyuuga boy. The two young leaf ninja walked side by side, until Lina stopped. Neji stopped as well and looked over his shoulder at her. "What now?" Neji asked, but Lina shook her head and beamed at him.

"I was just thinking..." Lina started as she went to stand next to Neji. "What do you say we go get some food? You and me. My treat?" Lina smiled at him. Neji looked at her oddly. _Did...Did she just ask me out on a date?_ Neji thought, thinking back to Lee talking in his hospital room.

_ "So, have you seen Lina yet?" asked Lee as he looked up at his pale-eyed team mate. Neji nodded. "She likes you, you know." This caught the Hyuuga boy by surprise. "She may not realize it now, but she will. I can tell, it's the way she looks at you."_

_ "What, with hatred? Don't be preposterous, Lee." Neji scoffed._

_ "No, no! I'm serious! I read somewhere that when girls are constantly mad at a guy, it's a sure sign saying that they like them!" Lee told Neji._

"This isn't going to be a da-" Neji started, but cut himself off, not being able to say the word. Lina looked at him for a moment, confused as to what he was talking about until she realized what he was getting at.

"Oh! No, no! It's just, I thought it'd be nice, to you know 'hang out'. I mean, get to know each other. With me being friends with Hinata, Lee, and Tenten, I'm sure we'll be seeing each other a lot; I just thought it'd be nice, you know..." Lina blushed as she looked down at her feet. A slight redness came across Neji's face as well as he looked in the opposite direction.

"Right, of course." Neji mumbled.

"But, you know...if you want it to be, then..." Lina trailed, with her face growing redder.

"Uh...I..." Neji stuttered, not knowing what to say to her.

"But, you know...it doesn't have to be. Just...friends having lunch." Lina quickly added.

"Yeah...how about that." Neji nodded. The two genin stood in an awkward silence.

"So, I know this great curry house. They have all kinds of curry: sweet, mild, spicy, extra spicy..." Lina started as they stood there.

"Yeah...sure." replied Neji, still staring in the opposite direction.

"Well, okay then. Let's go!" Lina smiled at him as she grabbed Neji's wrist and began to drag him down the street, stopping outside the Yamanaka flower shop. "Well, I've got to change really quick, then we can head to your house!" Lina smiled as she dragged him into the flower shop. Ino stood at the counter, really confused as she watched her pink-haired cousin drag the Hyuuga up to her room. Moments later, Shikamaru came walking in from the bathroom.

"Was that Lina, dragging Neji up to her room?" He asked. Ino nodded her head.

* * *

"Okay!" Lina exclaimed as she opened the door to her room. Neji stood there, shocked that she had just dragged him up to her room. "You can come in you know, my room isn't going to suck you up." Neji rolled his eyes and stepped into her room. Lina scampered to her drawer, she pulled out a bright green shirt, tossed it on her bed, and closed the drawer. She crouched down to the bottom drawer, and pulled out a pair of blue shorts; she closed the drawer and stood up straight again. She grabbed her shirt and turned to look at Neji with a smile. I'm going to change in the bathroom really quick, please sit! I'll be back in a few minutes." Lina walked pass him and out of her room. Neji looked around the room.

"This isn't how I'd expect her room to be...it doesn't seem...Lina-like." He said to himself. He looked at the wall in front of her footboard. There were drawings of people: Her, Shibano, and Kisho. Ino, Sakura, Naruto, Kiba and Hinata. They looked a little faded, but there were three new freshly drawn pictures on the wall: one of Rock Lee, another of Rock Lee, Tenten and himself, and lastly, one of himself. He turned away and looked at the desk, where there was an unfinished picture of Tenten. He smirked and turned to the window, the flowers were gone but the vase was still there. Next to it was a picture of Her, Kisho and Shibano, along with their jounin sensei. He picked it up and looked at it, then he saw another picture frame. He picked that one up as well, looking between them. Kisho, Shibano and Lina, when they were younger, Neji smirked.

"Yeah, we were eight when that was taken." Lina smiled as she stood behind him, holding her black mourning cloths in her arms. "I think it was my birthday too, haha." Lina laughed as she put her mourning clothes back in her drawer. Lina took off her Konoha headband and laid it on her vanity. "So, ready to go to your house?" She asked, Neji put down the pictures where he found them and nodded. He turned to walk out of the room when noticed five pressed tulips, laying on her vanity.

"You still have those? I thought they'd be dead by now?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean your tulips? Well, I pressed them before they could wilt." Lina smiled. "They're too pretty to throw away, and plus! They were a gift. I never throw away gifts."

"You're going to become a hoarder." Neji told her simply, and she laughed.

"No! I don't receive that many gifts, I usually receive things I can use, like drawing supplies and stuff like that. I've never received flowers before. I had to ask Ino to show me how to press them." Lina told him as they walked out of her room and down to the flower shop. Ino and Shikamaru stopped talking to look at Lina and Neji as they walked through the shop.

"Uh, Lina..." Ino called out, Lina and Neji stopped and looked at the blonde girl. "Uh...Wha-Where are you going?" She asked, she was going to ask what they were doing in her room but she thought it was better to ask later.

"Tsumiten's, we're going out to lunch."

"Like a da-"

"No, Ino! I'm buying." Lina laughed. "Well, I'll see you later! I'll be home by dinner!" Lina grabbed Neji's arm and ran out of the flower shop. "Gosh that was close."

"Wha-"

"She thought we were doing..._stuff_ up there! Hah, isn't that ridiculous! I mean we're only kids. That stuff is like...no-no stuff." Lina laughed as they headed towards the Hyuuga compound. They reached the gates, and Lina stopped; Neji looked at her weirdly. "What?"

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you."

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why no?"

"Because"

"We've established 'because' already, Neji."

"You made me go into your room, and now you're going into mine." Neji told her as he walked behind her and began to push her through the grounds of the Hyuuga estate. They reached the front entrance of the compound, Neji let go of her in order to take off his shoes, Lina took this chance to try and escape but Neji grabbed her wrist before she could get far. "No." Neji glared at her, and Lina laughed nervously. The two genin took off their shoes and Neji grabbed her wrist again as they made their way down the hall. On the way to Neji's room, Lina saw Mr. Hyuuga, Hanabi, and Hinata, they all looked at Neji and Lina oddly.

"Hi Mr. Hyuuga, Hinata, uhh...Hinata's sister!" Lina smiled sheepishly as she got dragged along with Neji. The three other Hyuuga's blinked.

"Since when did Neji have a girlfriend?" Hanabi asked, and all they could do was stare after the two.

The two stopped, and Lina presumed that they'd reached Neji's room. Neji let go of her wrist and slid open the door. Lina walked in after Neji and stared, there was nothing special about it: he had a bed, dresser, and desk. On the desk was a picture of him and his team.

"Your room's so plain" Lina commented as Neji went to get his normal cloths from the drawer. Neji turned to her and glared. "How about I draw you some pictures! Especially ones of me! I mean how awesome would that be? Wake up everyday only to see my beautiful face?" Lina laughed jokingly, but Neji didn't look amused.

"I think I'll pass, thanks." Neji said as he walked passed Lina and out of his room. Lina's eye twitched, she looked around his room and her eyes landed on the desk. An evil smirk played on her lips as she went into a drawer and found a piece of paper and pencil. She began drawing a fast picture of herself, along with many chibi-Linas all over the page. Lina smiled as she looked around for some tape.

"Ahah!" Lina smiled as she tore a piece of tape off and stuck it to the wall above the desk. Lina put the pencil back in the desk and stood back, with her hands on her hips, looking at her master piece.

"What are you looking at?" Neji asked as he walked back into his room, holding his black yukata. He went to his drawer and slipped them in neatly; he closed the drawer and looked in the same direction as Lina. He sweat dropped when he saw the picture of Lina, surrounded by chibi-Linas. "Take that down."

"Why!"

"Because I don't want that in my room!"

"But it's me, Neji!"

"Exactly, take it down."  
"But it's cute."

"I don't care. Take it down."

"No! I worked hard on that!"

"You spent five minutes!"

"So..."

"Whatever, I'm taking it down later." Neji sighed. Lina laughed at her accomplishment.

"I'm sure the next time I come back in here, it will still be taped up to that wall." Lina laughed as they walked down the hallway.

"Don't count on it." He told her. "Hey, who ever said that you could go back into my room?"

"Uh, I did."

"It's rude to invite your self somewhere."

"Yeah, I know."

"So you're saying you're a rude person?"

"No. I know you'll ask me to come back."

"Oh, how can you be so sure about that?"

"It's our destiny, Neji. You don't ignore destiny and fate, now do you?" Lina smiled at him. She didn't believe in that destiny and fate nonsense, like he did; she believed that there are several paths pre-planned for you, but that it was up to you to decide which path you'll take. Neji sighed as they walked passed Mr. Hyuuga, Hinata, and Hanabi again. "Bye Mr. Hyuuga, Hinata, and Hinata's sister! I'm sure I'll see you soon."

"Stop inviting yourself over!"

"But Neji, it's our destiny!"

"Stop saying that!"

"But Neji!"

"Shut up." Neji crossed his arms after he and Lina put their shoes on and left the Hyuuga estate. They walked down the dirt roads in silence, until Lina stopped. Neji sighed and looked at her. _She's acting really strange today, stranger than usual. _Neji thought as he looked at her. She was looking up at a couple of birds in a nest, Neji took notice in the distant look in her eyes. _Is what Lee said really true? Could she like me and not know it? _Neji thought to himself. "What are you doing?" Lina looked at him and blinked.

"I'm hungry." She told him as she continued to walk forward. Neji's eye twitched as he sweat dropped. _Maybe Lee was wrong. Maybe she just loves to annoy the hell out of me._ Neji thought to himself as he and Lina continued to walk in silence. "Here it is! Tsumiten!" Lina smiled as she stood in front of the restaurant. "Come on! We want to get the good seats before they're taken up!" Lina grabbed his hand and dragged him inside the restaurant.

* * *

"Hey! Isn't that Lina?" Shibano exclaimed as she pointed to Lina. "And...is that...no! That's Neji!"

"What?" Kisho shouted, "Where?"

"With Lina, look!" Shibano pointed as Lina and Neji walked up to the restaurant.

"What's she doing with a jack ass like him, anyway?" Kisho mumbled as he crossed his arms.

"I donno...Maybe they're on a date?" Shibano guessed, but Kisho glared.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, they're holding hands! See!" Shibano pointed to Lina's and Neji's hand holding. Kisho's eyes went wide.

"WHAT, NO WAY! THERE'S NO WAY LINA WOULD GO OUT WITH THAT ASS!" Kisho shouted.

"Well, let's go see what's going on then!" Shibano suggested. "Plus, we may be able to snag a free lunch while we're at it." This was able to shut Kisho up, but he still had a scowl on his face.

"So, are you really going to throw out that picture I drew for you?" Lina asked as she sipped her water, looking at Neji intently.

"Hn, of course. It sucks." Lina's eye twitched. _That ass._ She thought.

"Whatever. Don't lie to me Hyuuga."

"Oh, so we're on last name terms, are we? Hawatye?" Neji smirked at Lina's game, as she glared at him.

"Shut up."

"I believe that's my line." Neji smirked, and Lina rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, you're stupid." Neji scoffed at her choice of words. _'When girls are constantly mad at a guy, it's a sure sign saying that they like them' She isn't mad is she? Why am I even worrying myself about this, this is Lina, she's a pain in my ass and she never leaves me alone, and even when she doesn't talk to me she still bothers and annoys me._ Neji thought.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Lina asked, looking at him curiously.

"Nothing that concerns you." Neji told her and took a sip of water. _But, she did ask me to lunch, and she grabbed my hand...Why the hell am I thinking about these things? Do I...do I like her? Even in the slightest?_ Neji asked himself.

"Don't lie to me, Neji Hyuuga." Lina looked at him with a suspicious look.

"Well, if you really must know..." Neji trailed on, Lina leaning in to hear what he had to say. "Do you like me?"

"Like you? Of course I like you!" Lina laughed. _So Lee was half right, but do like her back?_ "If I didn't like you in the slightest, I wouldn't have brought you to lunch. Gosh Neji. You may piss me off to the point where I hate you and want to rip your balls off, but I still like you." Lina laughed, but Neji shook his head.

"That's not what I meant." said Neji. Lina only blinked. "I mean, do you LIKE me? As in..."

"Oh...EW! NO, I'M TO YOUNG! I DON'T WANT TO GET COOTIES!" Lina shouted "I mean, you're just...ew. You're an asshole ninety-eight percent of the time. I couldn't like some bastard like that." Lina told him. Neji's eye twitched. _ Yeah, I definitely DO NOT like her, in anyway, shape or form. Lee was completely wrong. That's the last time I listen to him about anything. Neji_ thought.

"LINA!" shouted two familiar voices. Neji and Lina looked up to saw Shibano and Kisho. "Are we interrupting something?" Kisho asked suspiciously.

"No." They both said at the same time.

"Oh, so you wouldn't mind if we joined you?" Kisho asked as he sat down next to Lina.

"Well, uh, no, I guess.." Lina mumbled.

"Hey, scoot over, I don't want to sit next to Neji!" Shibano whined. Lina sighed as she stood up and took the seat next to Neji, letting Shibano sit next to Kisho. She smiled and drank the rest of Lina's water.

"Hey! That was mine!" Lina glared.

"Sorry, I was thirsty." Shibano laughed, and Lina sighed

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Kisho asked casually, glaring at Neji.

"We were eating lunch, alone." Neji answered and glared back.

"But good ol' Lima-bean doesn't mind, does she?" Kisho asked as she looked at him.

"Well, if you're paying for yourselves, I don't." Lina smiled, Shibano and Kisho sweat dropped and sighed. "YOU GUYS WERE THINKING ABOUT FREELOADING OFF ME, WEREN'T YOU?" Lina shouted at her friends, who laughed nervously.

"Well...no?" They said in unison.

"Don't lie to me!"

"Maybe..." The two murmured. Lina glared at them.

"Well, think again! I only brought enough money to buy mine and Neji's lunch, seeing as I INVITED him, and I said I'd treat him."

"Why is he so special all of a sudden?" Kisho glared.

"He got me flowers..." Lina mumbled as she looked down at the table. "And I feel bad for him spending that much on me." She admitted. _So that's why she asked, she's repaying me for the flowers I bought._ Neji thought as he looked down at her.

"What! He bought you flowers? When!" Kisho asked.

"When I was in the hospital."

"I thought that was Tenten." Kisho stated.

"No, it was Neji." Lina answered. The waitress came and took everyone's orders. After they ate lunch, Lina paid for her and Neji's food while Kisho and Shibano paid for their own meals. The four genin stood up, and left the restaurant.

"Yum, that was good Lina." Shibano sighed with a smile on her face.

"Yeah! How'd you find this place?" Kisho asked as they all walked down the street.

"Oh, this is the place that Lee and I went to, he showed it to me before. I'm surprised that I've passed it so many times and never really knew what it was." Lina laughed, sweat dropping.

"Wait, so if you went here with Rock Lee on your DATE, does this mean that you and Hyuuga are on a date?" Kisho asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously at his pink-haired friend. Lina and Neji's cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"Wh-what! No! Like I said before, it's to repay him for the flowers!" Lina reassured them, with an expression that didn't back up her statement.

"You're face doesn't say so. I mean, you guys held hands..." Shibano smirked.

"We did not."

"Did too." Kisho agreed with Shibano.

"Did not!" Lina glared at Kisho.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"WE DID NOT HOLD HANDS, KISHO!" Lina shouted as she punched him, sending him flying to the ground. Neji stood there, watching with a blank expression. _Yeah, most definitely, don't like her. _ Neji thought as he sighed, beginning to walk away. Lina took notice and turned to look at his leaving form. "Hey, where are you going?"

"To train." Neji answered her as he continued to walk away.

"See what you did Kisho, Neji's leaving now!" Lina shouted.

"Good!" Kisho shouted, Lina glared at him. "I've never liked him!"

"You don't know him!"

"And you do?" Lina's green eyes widened a little. "Come on Lina, you've known him for a few months, and in that time, you've said you hated his guts almost every single time you've seen him."

Lina looked at Kisho, hurt for a moment. "He's a stuck up, arrogant bastard who doesn't deserve your attention! So just get over him!" Kisho shouted at her as he stood up. "Stick with Rock Lee or Kiba, or someone. Anyone's better than him, Lina."

"I don't like Neji that way. How many times do I have to tell you!" Lina shouted at him.

"Sure, Lina, just stop lying to yourself! You know what they say: girls who are constantly mad at a guy means that they like them!"

"Don't be stupid! That's little kid school stuff, it isn't real."

"You picked on Kiba all the time!"

"Yeah, when I was like...eleven!"

"What's the difference now? A year? Lina we're still kids!"

"I don't like Neji like that, okay? He's a friend, ONLY a friend." Lina glared at her purple-haired friend. "Now, come talk to me when you've gotten some sense knocked into you!" Lina shouted at him as she stormed down the road.

"I think you really made her mad, Kisho." Shibano told her purple-haired friend.

"I figured." Kisho sighed.

"No, I mean, REALLY mad." Shibano told him with sad eyes. She hated seeing her friends fight, but it happened; it never mattered how close Lina and Kisho were, they were just so different in views and opinions that sometimes it was a wonder how they got along. "Why are you so worked up about Lina liking Neji anyway?" Shibano asked as they began to walk down the street.

"Because, she's like my sister and I don't want to see her hurt; and that's all he's done in the two months we've known the guy!" Kisho grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, but that's her choice, Kisho. She didn't get overly worked up when you told her that you like Ino."

"Yeah, so?" Shibano sighed and shook her head.

"She likes Neji, we know this already, but she doesn't. Let her figure it out for herself. If you keep telling her that she does, all she's going to do is deny it. We want her to come to terms with her feelings so she can get over him. I don't like him either but, this is Lina and we'll support her no matter who she likes, got it?" Shibano glared at him and Kisho sighed but nodded.

* * *

Lina grumbled as she walked into the flower shop. Ino stood straight and was about to ask Lina how it went but stopped when she stormed up to her room. Ino sighed and shook her head. "He probably said something to make her mad again." Ino shook her head and rested her head on her hand, but within minutes she stood up again to see Kisho standing in the flower shop.

"Kisho? What are you doing here?" Ino asked, Kisho smiled at her, with a blush.

"Well, uh, Lina and I got into a fight."

"Oh…so that's why she seemed mad, I thought it would've been Neji." Ino sighed. "Well she's up in her room, go right on up."

"Thanks, Ino." Kisho said to her and Ino nodded. Kisho walked up to Lina's room, knocking on the door and waiting for her reply.

"Come in."

"Hey..." Kisho greeted her cautiously. Lina looked up from her desk and glared at him.

"What do you want?"

"I'm sorry, about how I was acting. It's just...I don't like him, Lina."

"Yeah, well, neither do I. He's an asshole!" Lina looked back at her drawing of Tenten.

"Then why did you offer him lunch? Why did you draw a picture of him and hang it on your wall?"

"Because, I may not like him, he may be an ass most of the time, but...he's still my friend." Lina replied to Kisho with a small smile. "I mean, you're an ass, and you make me mad all the time yet I still love you, don't I?" Lina smiled at him, and Kisho smiled back.

"Yeah, I guess." Kisho nodded his head as he sat on Lina's bed. He looked at the two photo frames and smiled. "You still have this?" Kisho asked as he went to pick up the picture of when they were eight.

"Heck yeah. Why would I throw that out?"

"Well, I'd of thought that you would put it in an album or something..." Kisho started. He smiled sadly. "I remember when this was taken, it was your ninth birthday. You were pissed off because you didn't get green wrapping paper...Hah." Kisho smiled sadly as he put the picture back on the windowsill. "The third Hokage came that day, didn't he?" He asked her. "To your birthday..."

"Oh yeah, he did. He gave me a picture of my parents." Lina replied sadly as she pulled out the picture from her desk drawer. "It's still sad, that he's gone."

"Yeah...but you know, he may be gone physically, but his accomplishments and his heart and soul are with us for ever. He's been a major part of our lives, and we all have a part of him with in us." Kisho smiled at her, and she nodded.

"When did you get smart?" Lina laughed, and Kisho glared at her.

* * *

**A/N: Well I hope you liked it, Chapter Six is being written, but this may or may not be updated for about..maybe a week? I'm going to Santa Barbara and Malibu for a week with my family; I'm going to write in my free time but I don't think I'll finish chapter six and seven, have them beta'd and posted during that week. I'd also like to thank Kuki Salazar for being my beta :D Even though she did get destracted ALOT xD; **

**Read and Review :)**


	6. This Time

**A/N: I have to say, this chapter was a PAIN to write. It took me twice as long as I wanted to write this, I had to find motivation to write it because I knew that I had so much to write for it! Dx. I'm sorry for such the long wait, especially when I promised like..what 2 weeks ago for it? But anyway, I love this chapter, even though I couldn't put everything I wanted to, but it's an EXTREMELY hilarious chapter. This is only part one of the mission :/ Part two is gonna take a while seeing as I am typing up my 'Bleach Ribbon of Faith' story. So if you like Bleach, please check it out it'll really mean alot to me. Anyway I'd like to thank Kuki Salazar for editing this :D**

**Song for this chapter: This Time by Vanessa Carlton :D**

* * *

"A mission?" Kisho asked, slightly confused, the new Hokage: Lady Tsunade.

"Yes, and a B-Ranked one at that." Tsunade nodded, looking at a piece of paper.

"But Lady Tsunade, do you really think that the four of us could pull it off?" Renji asked respectfully.

"Are you doubting you and your students, Renji?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"No, no, of course not. You see, we've never been on a B-Ranked mission."

"Well, to answer your question: No, I don't think that you and your three genin can do it by your selves. That's why I'm assigning two more genin to go with you. I originally wanted this to be a double team mission, but seeing as one of the other genin is unavailable right now…" Tsunade sighed. There was a knock on the door. "Ah, that must be them now. Come in."

"You wanted to see us, Lady Hokage?" A familiar male voice asked as team five turned around. There stood Neji, Tenten, and Gai, who closed the door behind them.

"Yes. You see, I have a mission for the two of you." Tsunade told them. Neji stopped and stood next to Lina, while Tenten stood next to Neji. Lina, Shibano, and Kisho all looked at Neji and Tenten with shock and confusion.

"Yo-you've gotta be kidding me." Kisho stuttered, sounding really disappointed. "This is the team that's going with us?" Kisho shouted as he pointed towards Neji. "I'll go with Tenten, but replace that bastard! I refuse to go on a mission with him!"

"You will go on this mission with Neji Hyuuga and you will like it, or else I'll rip you from our ranks. You hear me Nakasumo?" Tsunade shouted at him.

"Kisho, shut up!" Lina sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. _It's been like this for weeks now; Neji this, Neji that! If I didn't know better, I'd have thought that Kisho was the one crushing on him._ Lina thought.

"Oh, here you go defending him again!"

"I'm not defending anyone!"

"Oh yeah, sure looks like you are to me!"

"Well, you better get you eyes checked, because I'm not defending him!"

"Yes, you are! Why wont you just admit it? That you put Hyuuga before me!"

"I do no such thing!"

"Yeah, right! What happened last week? 'Hey, Lina! Let's go get some ramen!' 'No, Kisho. Sorry, I'm going over to the Hyuuga compound to hang out with Hinata' Oh, yeah right! You went there to be with Neji!"

"I did not! I was really with Hinata! Ask Neji, he was there!"

"Oh, so you admit it!"

"Admit what!"

"That you were with Neji!"

"He lives there, dumbass!"

"But you're not denying it!"

"Oh my God, you're so stupid!"

"See, you're not denying anything!"

"I don't have to prove anything to you."

"This only proves to me that you put Neji before me!"

"Oh my G-uuugh. Stop being an idiot! I do not put Neji before you. If anyone, I put Shibano before you."

"Hey, don't drag me into this." Shibano commented.

"Oh gee, thanks Lina! That makes me feel loved." Kisho glared at Lina. Lina and Kisho continued to bicker with each other. Renji and Shibano had nervous smiles, sweat dropping at the pair while Tenten and Gai looked shocked at the two bickering teammates. Neji just sighed and crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"Believe it or not, Hokage, Lina and Kisho work extremely well as a team." Renji assured her. Tsunade rubbed her temples.

"I don't know who is worse: Kisho and Lina, or Naruto and Sakura?" She mumbled to herself. "WILL YOU TWO QUIT IT?" Tsunade shouted, causing everyone in the room to jump. Lina and Kisho stopped fighting and nodded, looking to the floor.

"You two are a headache." Neji stated simply, Lina's and Kisho's eyes' twitched.

"WHAT!" Lina shouted at the Hyuuga boy.

"You heard me, or do you need your ears checked? You and your teammate are a headache."

"Well if I'm a headache, what does that make you? A cold sore?" Lina grumbled. Kisho, Shibano, and Tenten snorted, trying to contain their laughter.

"No, it makes me more mature, for I don't argue over such petty things." Lina's eye twitched.

"You, mature? Hah! I didn't know you were a joker, Neji!"

"What makes you think I'm joking?"

"Because, you always joke around: acting all high and mighty, you're so arrogant."

"Well, you're annoying."

"So, we're playing this game again?" Lina glared at him.

"What game? I'm only stating the truth."

"That's so like you! You egotistical ass!"

"You're just so naïve."

"I'm naïve, you're heartless."

"You're too considerate."

"That's a bad thing? You don't do a damn thing for anyone!"

"I bought you flowers!"

"Yeah, because Tenten made you!" Lina glared at him.

"Well, I wouldn't have wasted my money otherwise!" Lina looked at him. She was hurt, but she tried not to show it, so she glared at him.

"You are such an ass! I hate you!" Lina shouted at him as she turned away from him.  
"Those two, we're not sure if they work well yet." Gai and Renji said at the same time, sweat dropping at their students' bickering.

"Well, you'll find out." Tsunade sighed as she picked up another piece of paper. "This mission is a B-Ranked mission; you six will be traveling to the Land of Sea. There, you will guard the Feudal Lord and his family." Tsunade informed them.

"Why?" Kisho asked, crossing his arms; he thought it would be stupid to guard a lord and his family.

"Because for the past few weeks they have been given death threats; they believe that someone is going to assassinate them and try to take over the country." Tsunade answered seriously. "You guys will also be gathering information and will be on the look out for anything or anyone suspicious. If, or when, you find something, you are to notify the Lord immediately, and then notify me. Do I make myself clear?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the six shinobi, who all nodded their heads. "Good. Renji, everything else is now up to you."

"What? Gai-sensei isn't coming?" Tenten asked, surprised. Gai shook his head.

"Not this time, I've got matters to do here. I trust Renji with my life, he's been a great comrade and friend for the past few years and I am happy that he is the one leading my youthful students!" Gai smiled at his students, then at Renji, who only smiled and nodded. Shibano, Kisho and Lina blinked at the two older men.

"I don't want to know." Team Five sighed in unison.

"Well, you all are dismissed." Tsunade told them, politely telling them to get out of her office. The two jounin and five genin exited the room.

"Alright Team, and Gai's Team. The Land of Sea is a good two days' trip. I don't know how long we're going to be there and I don't know what we're going to be doing, either. So pack normal clothes, training clothes, swimming clothes, and-just in case- formal wear." Renji told them. Lina, Shibano, and Kisho nodded; Tenten looked at Renji strangely.

"Why do we need swim wear and formal wear?" She asked, confused.

"Because if we're going to be guarding a feudal lord and his family, don't you think they'd like to go swimming?" Renji asked with a smile, "and they're nobles, they may have to attend something fancy! And with us being paid to protect them at all times, we are currently invited." Renji smiled even more. Lina, Kisho, and Shibano sweat dropped and sighed, giving their sensei a disgusted look.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense…" said Tenten when she thought about it. _Renji-sensei just wants to go on a vacation. That's the only reason we're bringing that crap._ Lina thought as she sighed.

"Right! Teams, pack, and meet at the gate in one hour!" Renji smiled as he and Gai walked off.

"I hope you guys know that the reason he told us to bring swim wear and formal wear was so that we can be lazy and still do our job, right?" Lina smirked, raising an eyebrow at Tenten, who obviously didn't get it.

"What! He made it sound so true!" Tenten sighed as the five genin began walking out of the Hokage building.

"Yeah, that's Renji-sensei alright! He knows how to convince people into doing something they're really iffy about doing." Kisho sighed as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's going to convince the feudal family to go to the beach." Lina sighed as she put her hands in her pocket.

"Aw, come on guys! Stop dragging on Renji-sensei!" Shibano stepped in to defend her sensei.

"You just like him because the two of you are almost exactly alike." Kisho glared at his brown- haired friend.

"We are not!"

"Oh yeah, you are! If you absolutely don't have to do work you try and avoid doing it at all costs!" Lina laughed at Shibano, who pouted as they exited the building.

"So not true."

"Aw come on, 'Bano Bumble Bee, you're lazy! You got Konohamaru to do your chores one day, saying it was a C-Ranked mission!" Lina laughed even more.

"Uh, Lina...I'd rank Shibano's room is an S-ranked mission." Kisho cut in, looking quite scared.

"Hey, my room isn't that bad!" Lina gave Shibano a pointed look. "Okay, maybe it is, but I mean...okay, I'm lazy; but I mean the beach! In the Land of Sea! That's awesome!" Shibano exclaimed with a smile. Lina shook her head, Tenten looked at them weirdly, and Neji wasn't paying attention. "Well, Kisho and I gotta go this way." Shibano spoke up as they reached a fork in the road.

"Hey, me too!" Tenten smiled at Shibano and Kisho.

"We've gotta go straight." Lina told them, referring to her and Neji. "We'll see you guys soon!" Lina waved at Tenten, Kisho and Shibano as she and Neji began to walk straight ahead. "Can you believe it! We're going on a mission together!" Lina smiled at the Hyuuga, he just 'hn'ed and continued walking. Lina just looked at him and then to the ground. "Well I, at least, hope this mission goes well- not that I don't think we won't complete it successfully or anything, it's just that I hope all of us, as a team, get along..."

"You're the devil to me, Hawatye. You're a pain in my ass and you annoy the hell out of me," Neji started as they walked down the dirt roads, "Nakasumo hates the sight of me, and Umino thinks no differently then Nakasumo, she's just too nice to say anything. I highly doubt that "us, as a team" can get along." Neji told her harshly and continued to walk; Lina sighed and walked behind him.

"Well...I'll see you at the gate." Lina smiled and waved at him, running into the flower shop.

"Got a mission, Ino! I don't know how long it'll take! Tell your parents for me!" Lina exclaimed as she ran up to her room. The pink-haired girl quickly grabbed her backpack and began to pack everything Renji-sensei told her to: training clothes, swim wear, formal clothing. She also packed everything else she needed: an extra change of clothes, unmentionables, toiletries, all the necessities that she usually brought on missions. She packed kunai and shuriken, along with a few senbon (She and Shibano had learned how to use them from Renji) into her pouch that was usually attached to her back pocket. She packed a few paper bombs and some first aid supplies. The apple-eyed girl smiled, satisfied, when she finished packing. She turned to her clock and saw that she had enough time to pack some snacks before meeting the team at the gates. Lina ran downstairs and into the kitchen, looking for a good ten minutes before she realized that her mission food was gone. Her pink eyebrow twitched as she walked into the flower shop. Her eyes caught sight of Shikamaru and Chouji talking to Ino, a sight with a bag of chips in Chouji's hands.

"CHOUJI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY FOOD!" Lina shouted as she walked slowly to the other genin. Chouji looked at Lina, scared, and stood behind Ino.

"I-I was hungry, I'm sorry..."

"DON'T EAT MY MISSION FOOD! GOT IT? NOW I HAVE TO RUN TO THE MARKET AND BUY SOME MORE!" Lina shouted at him. She took a deep breath to calm down. Lina turned around and walked back into the house section of the building, slipping into her sandals and strapping her boomerang onto the back of her backpack. She exited the house and walked out of the flower shop. Out of frustration, Lina clenched her fist as headed toward to grocery store. "Stupid Chouji, eating my last bag of chips!" Lina grumbled as she walked down the market street. She stopped and bought a few apples and oranges before continuing walking. She came to the grocery store (where everyone bought snacks, so really, it was a snack store). Walking in, she bought a few bags of chips and some rice, along with some ramen (Shibano and Lina couldn't go a mission with out ramen!), the girl paid and exited the store, running down the street toward the gates.

"Sorry, I'm late guys! Chouji ate my last bag of food, so I had to buy some!" Lina panted as she came to a stop where Renji, Kisho, Shibano, Tenten, and Neji stood there waiting for her. "Shibano, how much room do you have in your bag?"

"Enough to split the food." Shibano smiled, which Lina returned. Shibano took off her backpack and opened it up.

"Alright, well I bought apples and oranges for everyone! So we have some type of nutritional value." Lina smiled. "There's enough for six days. I can fit them in my bag, everything else can go into yours." Lina told Shibano; the brown-haired girl nodded and stuffed the chips and ramen into her bag. Lina took off her boomerang, handing it to Shibano-who struggled, even with the help of Kisho and Renji, to hold it up. _How the heck can she carry this thing all the time? Doesn't she get tired?_ Shibano thought to her elf.

_How the hell! I never knew Lina was this strong, carrying a thing this heavy around all day._ Kisho thought as he, along with Renji, continued to struggle with the giant boomerang and Tenten and Neji looked on with amusement. Lina clapped once after she zipped her bag closed. Putting her backpack back on, the pink-haired girl took back her weapon, strapping it back into place. Kisho, Renji, and Shibano grunted and fell to the ground, panting and sweating. Lina looked at them and blinked, a weird expression on her face: right eyebrow raised, the left frowned, and her lips puffed out in a pout-like manner. Tenten laughed at her and the other three shinobi on the ground.

"What's wrong with you guys?" Lina asked, completely oblivious to the fact that her boomerang was too heavy for the three shinobi to hold.

"WHAT'S WRONG? THAT DAMN BOOMERANG WEIGHS FIVE MILLION TONS! HOW YOU CAN HAUL THAT THING AROUND ALL THE TIME IS BEYOUND ME!" Kisho shouted as he, Renji, and Shibano stood up (Tenten helped Shibano up and Neji helped Renji). Lina blinked.

"It doesn't weigh five million tons Kisho, that'll be impossible to carry! Haha, it only weighs...I don't know, maybe two hundred pounds?" Lina smiled as Renji, Kisho, Shibano, and Tenten all fell to the ground. Lina just laughed and shook her head, "You guys are funny." Renji sighed as he stood back up.

"Right, team, and...Team Gai! Let's move out!" Renji nodded as they began to head south, except Kisho headed north.

"The Land of Sea's is THIS way." Neji told Kisho, who turned around and death glared at the Hyuuga.

"No, it isn't! It's this way!" Kisho shouted as he held the map.

"No, it's SOUTH! Not north!"

"It's north!"

"It's south, you nimrod!"

"Nimrod! You bastard! Land of Sea is north!"

"It's south!"

"North."

"South." The other four shinobi turned their heads back and forth, watching the two boys bicker about which direction to go.

"As amusing as this is, it's simply the wrong time." Shibano sighed. "Why can't they at least put aside their differences for the mission?" She asked, Tenten, Lina, and Renji sighed and shrugged their shoulders.

"It's north, Hyuuga, it says so on the map see!" Kisho shouted as he stuffed the map in Neji's face.

"You idiot! You're reading the map UPSIDE DOWN!" Neji' shouted as he flipped the map right side up and returned the previous gesture. Kisho blinked and looked at the map.

"OH HEY! Let's go south! Damn, Neji! Can't you read a map? Why were you thinking north?" Kisho smiled at the Hyuuga and walked passed Renji, Lina, Shibano, and Tenten. Neji's eyebrow twitched, and the four other ninja looked at him, slightly scared. For as long as they've known Neji, the three girls had never seen Neji this mad, and he was about to pop a vein. Neji's hands balled into fists as he bowed his head, anger seething off of him. Lina laughed nervously as she took a couple small steps towards Neji.

"It's alright Neji, Kisho is an idiot sometimes!" Lina tried to calm Neji down.

"Oh, so you're taking HIS side!" Kisho shouted from ahead. Lina sighed and shook her head.

"NO, YOU IDIOT! WILL YOU SHUT UP FOR ONCE? YOU'RE SO ANNOYING!" Lina shouted. Renji and Tenten sighed, but Shibano burst into a laughing fit, falling to the ground-the brunette was laughing so hard tears began to fall from her brown eyes.

"Oh, oh that-AHAHA!- was- HAAHAAH- was so-HAHAHA- funny! The look on- HAHAHA-Neji's-HAHAHAHA- was so-HAHAHA- It was priceless!" Shibano laughed. Renji, Tenten, and Lina sweat dropped; Neji's vein began to get bigger.

"Let's get this mission over as soon as possible, the sooner it's over the sooner I get away from you three." Neji glared at Lina, referring to her team.

"Aw, now Neji you don't mean that! You love my company!"

"No, I don't."

"Sure ya do!" Lina laughed as she and Neji walked, leaving Tenten to get Shibano, with Renji walking after them.

"No, I hate you. I believe I've established this earlier."

"But, Neji! It's our destiny! You can't fight it! It's pre-planned that we were to meet!" Lina smiled largely a him. Neji's eye twitched.

"Shut up."

"It's our destiny, just accept it!"

"Stop saying that!"

"But it's true!"

"I'm going to ignore you now."

"Aw, don't say such things. You know if I died on this mission you'll miss me!"

"No I wont. I'd be happy."

"Now don't lie to yourself like that. I mean, if you just come to realization about your true feelings for me, I'll understand. I may not feel the same, but I'm sure we can figure something out! I mean, it was fate that brought us together!" Lina laughed at Neji's expression.

"No, I would kill myself before I could EVER like someone so damn annoying as you. I'd rather date Lee than you-actually, I'd rather date NARUTO than you." Neji told her.

"Now, Neji. What did I say? Don't lie to yourself."

"God, you're so annoying." Neji sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"But you LOOOOVVVEEEEE me! You want to huuuug me, you want to kiiiissssssssss me, you want to maaaarrrryyyyyy me! You want me bear your chiiilllllddddreeen! Just imagine! Mini-Neji's and mini-Lina's running around Konoha!"

"Oh, God. Kill me." Neji sighed. Tenten, Kisho, Shibano, and Renji watched the two genin in amusement, all containing the urge to laugh.

"But Neji! If you die, whose going to look after Sho and Madoka?" Lina whined, Neji almost choked on air.

"You've named our nonexistent children?" Neji's eye twitched.

"Of course! Sho will be our first child, it's a boy obviously. He's going to look just like you, but he's going to be a mommy's boy. Madoka is going to look like me, but with you know...paler green eyes without pupils! But she's going to act like you, she's going to be daddy's girl! Sho will be fifteen, while Madoka will be thirteen, they'll be two years apart obviously. THEN! Because you love me and our family so much, you got me pregnant again with a third child! Boy or girl we decided the name was going to be Hiro!"

"What if we have three boys?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow. He hardly thought her delusional future was EVER going to come true, but it was amusingly annoying nonetheless.

"Well...if we have three boys…then ,well…first will be Sho, then second will be Hiro, and our youngest will be Hizashi! Then if we have another boy his name will be Kikaze!" Lina smiled at him. Neji choked on air again when she said that their third son would be named Hizashi. "I may not like you, but I've always thought about my future kids with almost all my guy friends! Although our kids are the only ones I can actually picture, hahaha!" Lina laughed, Neji sweat dropped.

"You're a moron, your fantasy will stay a fantasy. The chances of me confessing my love for you are as good as a princess confessing her love for me."

"I'll hold you to that then." Lina laughed and Neji scoffed as the party of six continued walking south to the Land of Sea. Lina just smiled at him, but decided that she had annoyed him enough for the time being and began to walk beside Shibano and Tenten instead, quietly discussing the amusing scene that occurred only minutes ago.

The first day of the journey went uneventful, no more arguments, and no attacks; it was peaceful and they all secretly enjoyed it. When the sun started to slowly set, the group decided to stop for the night. Renji ordered Kisho, Neji, and Lina to get water and wood. Lina didn't understand why he couldn't go, but Renji told her that if she was there then she could control Kisho and Neji.

"That bum is just too lazy to actually do something." Lina rolled her eyes as the three walked into the woods. After bringing back water and wood, Renji started the fire and Lina began heating the rice. After everyone ate, they all discussed the look out order.

"Why do I have to be the first one to be look out?" Shibano whined.

"Because you're the hardest to wake up!" Kisho glared at his brown-haired friend. "Don't you remember the last time you were second to be look out? When I tried to wake you, you punched me!"

"Oh, yeah...Hehe, sorry." Shibano smiled at Kisho. Renji sighed but continued.

"After Shibano, I will take watch, then Kisho, Tenten, Neji, and finally, Lina will wake us all up."

"Why am I the last one? And why am I the one that has to wake everyone up?" Lina glared.

"Because, you have the...what I mean is, you are, um...more capable of waking all of us at the same time, rather than spending more time waking each separately." Renji smiled, Lina glared.

"Fine, whatever." Lina grumbled as she took a rice ball from the bento box, passing it around to Shibano. Lina sighed as she took a bite from it, taking a look at the sky that was now turning an orange-yellow. Green eyes looked around the fire; Shibano and Kisho were talking about something stupid- Lina didn't really want to listen in and find out what exactly it was. Renji was eating and staring at them like they were crazy, which, in fact, they were; Tenten was smiling at Neji, talking about something while Neji replied simply to her, nodding to indicate that he was listening to her as he ate. Lina looked back down at her rice ball, well-glared down at it, actually. She didn't know why, but she felt...angry? It was as if she was getting punched in the stomach over and over again; Lina had no idea where the sudden feeling came from or why she was feeling it, she had never felt it before. She clenched her eyes and shook her head, and when she opened them again she looked at Tenten and Neji, feeling it again. Lina tore her eyes away and glared at her rice ball. _Why do I feel angry? I have no reason to be angry at Tenten talking to Neji, it's not like I LIKE him or anything, it's NEJI of all people. Plus, Tenten is my friend, even if she did like Neji I would support her and encourage her to go for it._ Lina thought as she continued to glare at the rice ball that only had a bite taken out of it.

"Uh...Lima bean?" Shibano asked cautiously; Lina jumped and looked at her brown-haired friend.

"Yeah?"

"Are you-are you going to finish that rice ball?" Shibano asked sheepishly. Lina blinked and looked down at her rice ball, then back at Shibano.

"Sure, go ahead, I'm not that hungry anyway." Lina shrugged her shoulders as she handed the rice ball to her friend. Shibano took it and looked at Lina, who was staring into the fire, worried. She wasn't going to push her, Shibano knew that Lina would come to her when she was ready to talk.

"Well, I'm tired, I wanna get some shut eye before I have to wake up." Kisho yawned as he went left to lay down. Renji nodded.

"Yes, that's smart. The rest of us should get some sleep before our shifts." Renji advised them. Lina, Tenten, and Neji nodded, leaving the fire to lay down.

* * *

"Lina, wake up!" A female voice called from Lina's door.

"Hmm...?"

"Wake up, sleepy head." Ino laughed.

"Wha...? When did I get home?" Lina asked.

"The night before last; you seemed pretty exhausted so we decided to let you sleep. I want to hear all about the mission!"

"Wha-what do you mean?"

"What I mean is that, Neji was carrying you! He brought you to your room and tucked you in. Something like that usually doesn't happen when two people 'hate' each other, now does it?" Lina just blinked at her blonde cousin. "Now spill."

"I…I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, Lina! I know something happened between you and Neji! Shibano told me so!" Ino narrowed her blue eyes at Lina, who blinked again. "Ugh! Fine, since you're obviously too dense to remember how you got your first boyfriend!" Lina choked on air. "So from what Shibano told me, on the way there, you were being-well, you! And were talking about your future kids with Neji just to annoy him, which does sound like you. Neji then told you that the day he confesses his love for you will be the day that a princess confesses her love for him. Well, on the last day the feudal lord's daughter told Neji that she was in love with him and asked him if he would stay with her. Well, from what Shibano and Tenten told me, before you all went to bed that night, Neji told you that he, in fact, liked you but didn't want to tell you." Ino laughed. All Lina could do was blink and look at her cousin with wide eyes.

"No...no way!" Lina exclaimed and Ino nodded with a smile. Lina threw off her blanket and ran past Ino and out of her room, running down the stairs and putting her shoes on and running out of the shop. Lina continued to run down the streets of Konoha. The pink-haired girl came to a halt when she reached the Hyuuga compound, where she stood there glaring at the door: she had no idea if he was home. She shook her head and remembered that he usually trained with his team. Lina turned around and made her way towards the training grounds, in hopes of finding Team Gai. After searching five different training grounds, Lina finally came across the one where Team Gai was training. It was Gai who saw her first.

"Ah, if it isn't Lina Hawatye! You've come to see your other half! Such youth!" Gai exclaimed, giving her a thumbs up and a smile that pinged. Lina stopped in her tracks and raised an eyebrow at him, shaking her head. Now Tenten and Neji turned towards Lina, and Tenten giggled as Neji turned away.

"Is...is what Ino said is true? About what Shibano told her about the mission?" Lina asked. Neji turned towards her and was about to say something when Lina face planted into the ground.

"LIMA BEAN!" Shibano exclaimed as she stood up.  
"Of course you go see your boyfriend before your actual friends." Kisho rolled his eyes. Lina turned over and laid on the ground, looking up at the sky. She saw stars and different colors.

"Lina...?" Neji's voice came. "Lina...Lina, wake up...Lina..."

* * *

Green eyes shot open to see pale, pupil-less ones. "Good, you're awake; it is your turn to take watch." Neji told her as he stood up from the ground. Lina yawned as she sat up, the pink-haired girl began to stand but lost her footing. Luckily, Neji was still there to catch her. "You're such a klutz..." he told her, helping her stand up straight. Lina looked up to him-well, it wasn't much of 'looking up,' because for the first time she realized how much taller he really ways compared to her. Lina stood at five feet and one inch, and Neji wasn't much taller than her, maybe an inch or so. Lina blinked as she looked into this pale eyes, and his pale eyes stared into her apple-green ones. Lina did not want to move, she didn't even want to blink, fearing that if her eyes tore away even for the slightest millisecond that the "moment" would be ruined forever. Neither moved nor blinked, and it seemed like an eternity until Neji blinked and tore his gaze away from her, and during that moment, that pregnant moment Lina realized: _I…I like Neji._ Her green eyes widened, and a small gasp escaped her lips. Neji turned to her with a raised eyebrow, and Lina backed away from him, her eyes wide and staring.

"What are you doing?" he whispered, trying not to wake any one up, but Lina just shook her head, closing her eyes.

"Nothing, you should get some sleep; it'll be sun rise soon..." Lina told him; Neji only continued to stare at her. Lina avoided his eyes, she didn't want to look at him, she didn't even want to be near him right now. "Well...get to bed!" She sneered at him. Neji rolled his eyes at her and headed to his sleeping spot. He laid down, and without looking at the pink-haired girl one last time, closed his eyes. Lina sighed as she looked over her shoulder at the Hyuuga boy; she glared at him, tearing her gaze away from him to the look out post and sat there; looking up at the sky.

"It must be at least four a.m." Lina said to herself as she sighed, resting her head on her hand, which was propped up on her knee. "Kisho was right, Shibano was right...They were all right! How could I have been so stupid, so naïve and oblivious! I'm sure Neji can see it..." Lina whispered to herself. "And what have I been doing! Openly FLIRTING with him! How stupid can I be! It is no wonder why Kisho gets so angry about it, I'm practically THROWING myself at the guy...Ugh!" Lina shook her head and hid her face in her hands. "Of all the guys to like...why him? It's obvious he likes Tenten!" Lina brought her knees closer to her chest, then hid her face. She didn't want to, but she couldn't stop it, she could feel them coming: warm liquid started well up at the corners of her eyes; she tried to blink them away, but they kept welling up. She wiped them away with her arm.

"I'm such a cry baby! I shouldn't be crying over a guy, a jerk-ish guy, no less..." Lina sighed as she kept wiping her eyes. "What's there to like about him anyway! He is a total jerk! An ass who thinks he's so much better than everyone else! He hates the family he should cherish! A know-it-all! He gets on my nerves all the time! All the arguing with him is just annoying! And...and...his stupid face, it's just too perfect!" Lina ranted about the things she hated about them, but stopped mid-rant when she realized: "That's why I like him. His jerkiness, him being an ass and acting like he's better than everyone else and a know-it-all is why I like him! I like how he gets on my nerves because I have a reason to think about him, I like when we argue because he's paying attention to me! Noticing me! And his face...his eyes are just so...captivating!" Lina sighed as she shook her head again, looking out at the horizon. She didn't know how long she was staring at the sky, but when she could see the whole sun, she decided it was a good time to wake the others. She walked over to the group and woke up Renji-sensei, then Kisho, Tenten, and hesitantly woke up Neji.

"Uuuggh! Lina, it's early!" Kisho whined as he stretched and yawned. "And how come you didn't wake up Shibano?"

"Because, waking up Shibano is an A-ranked mission that needs a team of five shinobi to do." Lina answered, looking aggravated. Kisho, Tenten and Renji laughed at Lina's remark.

* * *

"Lina..." Kisho started as his cerulean-blue eyes shifted to the pink-haired girl who was gripping his arm for her dear life. "Are you okay?"

"Y-ye-yeah! Why? Why wouldn't I be-be o-okay?" Lina stuttered as her right hand gripped Kisho's left arm tighter.

"Well...you're starting to cut off the circulation in my arm, and I'm pretty sure it's the same for Neji." Kisho pointed out as he stared at Lina's hand gripped to his arm, then to Lina's other hand that was gripped to Neji's arm.

"A-am I re-really? I-I'm sorry." Lina apologized shakily.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were scared." Neji stated with a small smirk playing on his pale face. Lina glared at him and 'hmph'ed.

"Ye-yeah right! I-I'm not scared." Lina lied.

"Really? Prove it." Neji smirked. "Let go of mine and Nakasumo's arm." He challenged her. Lina glared at him and took a deep breath, slowly taking her grip off the two male ninjas' arms. She exhaled when she thought she was safe. Neji, wanting to prove that he was right, rocked back and forth, causing Lina to freak out. The pink-haired girl yelped and latched onto the Hyuuga boy and buried her face in his shirt. Renji, Kisho, Shibano, and Tenten looked at the scene going on before them with large smiles. Shibano and Tenten tried to contain their laughter at the two kekkei genkai users. Even though Shibano didn't like Neji, she knew Lina did, and seeing Lina embarrassed like this made Shibano laugh; she knew she'd have great black mail on her pink-haired friend later. "See, I'm right you-Lina?" Neji began but cut himself off when he saw Lina shaking. Renji, Kisho, Shibano, and Tenten's smiles fell from their faces.

"Lina, are you okay?" Tenten asked with worry as Lina's grip on Neji's shirt tightened when the boat jumped over a small wave.

"Lina's really scared of big bodies of water and boats." Shibano informed Tenten and Neji.

"And you didn't tell us this BEFORE we got on the boat?" Neji glared at the Umino.

"The question was never asked. Hehe." Shibano laughed. Neji glared at her, then sighed as he rested his left hand on Lina's head.

"We're coming up to the Land of Sea. We should be at the dock in ten minutes." Renji informed them all; Neji, Tenten, Shibano and Kisho nodded.

Ten minutes passed and when they finally reached the dock, it was really hard to get Lina detached from Neji's shirt. Kisho grabbed Lina's shoulders and pulled her back while Neji grabbed her hands and detached them from his shirt. Once Neji was Lina-free, he stepped out of the boat.

"Give her here." Neji told Kisho dully as he nodded to Lina. Kisho looked at Neji, then at Lina, nodding his head as he gently pushed his pink-haired teammate towards the Hyuuga boy. Neji grabbed hold of her wrists and gently pulled her out of the boat. "You're on solid ground now." Neji told her reassuringly. Lina looked at him for a moment and looked around her to see that she was on the dock. She took a deep breath and exhaled, relaxing a little. Shibano and Kisho hopped out of the boat, then Renji and lastly, Tenten. Lina watched as Neji grabbed Tenten's hand and hoisted her up on the wooden deck. Lina's green eyes turned away quickly and looked at the water. Shibano and Kisho noticed the look on Lina's face when she saw Neji pull Tenten out of the boat.

"Well, we should head to the feudal lord's palace." Renji spoke up, and everyone nodded as the party of six began walking towards the palace.

"You six, I assume, are the ninja of the Hidden Leaf?" Asked a man who appeared to be forty years old. Renji-sensei nodded and bowed, the other five following suit.

"Yes, Sir. My name is Renji Makane, and this is my team."

"My name is Kisho Nakasumo." Kisho introduced himself as he bowed again.

"I am Shibano Umino."

"I am Lina Hawatye." Lina smiled and bowed.

"My name is Tenten."

"I am Neji Hyuuga." He bowed in respect.

"Well, how rude I appear to be, not introducing myself and my family." The lord said, referring to the people around him. "I am Lord Fukaru. This is my wife, Koharu, my daughter, Hiyono, and my son, Ringo." The lord introduced his family. They all looked almost alike: dark brown hair, and green eyes. Except his wife, who had blue eyes.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all." Renji bowed once more. "Until we find out who it is that's after you and your family, I have decided to place each of my students in charge of watching after a member of your family."

"But there are four of us, and six of you?" Lady Koharu asked.

"I want to be paired up with him!" Hiyono exclaimed as she pointed at Neji. Neji and Lina blinked, their eyes widening at the princesses' words.

"Hiyono, Sweet Heart, it isn't polite to point." Lord Fukaru scolded his daughter.

"But Daddy! Only the best looking men can look after me! I want the Hyuuga boy!" She whined. Lina's eye twitched, and her hands clenched together, balling into fists. Shibano and Tenten looked at Lina worryingly, feeling the anger sizzling off of their female friend. Kisho, Renji, and Neji noticed the change in Lina and looked at her with worry and caution.

"Hiyono! A lady does not act as such!" Lord Fukaru scolded his daughter more.

"Spoiled little brat, thinks she can get whatever and who ever she wishes!" She grumbled under breath so that only the five ninja can hear her. Shibano and Tenten elbow Lina in the side and smiled while Lina gripped her sides and groaned out of pain.

"Anyway, that has already been fixed Lady Koharu. My student Kisho and I will be looking after you, Lord Fukaru. While my student, Shibano, and her team member, Tenten will be looking after your Lady Koharu. Ne-"

"Does this mean I can be with Neji?" Hiyono asked excitedly. Renji paused, looking at Lina for a second and Neji's pleading look. His eyes were practically screaming "NO!" Renji sighed and nodded his head.

"Neji and Lina will be in charge of looking after your children." Renji laughed nervously as he could feel the atmosphere around the six of them drop about twenty degrees. Renji could feel both Lina's and Neji's cold glares on him, knowing neither of them wanted to be stuck with the Lord's daughter.

"Yay!" Shouted the little boy as he stood up and ran towards Lina. "I'm glad. You're pretty!" The little boy smiled at her; he didn't appear to be any older than five or six years old. Lina's face reddened a bit and smiled at the younger boy.

"Well aren't you adorable, yourself?" Lina giggled at Ringo. Neji scoffed.

"He obviously hasn't met decent looking girls then." Kisho and Shibano snorted, trying to hold back laughter, and Lady Hiyono burst out in laughter. Lina's eye twitched as she glared at Neji.

"Watch it, Hyuuga. We're in front of royalty, not to mention children." Lina replied sweetly to Neji as she smiled, overly sweet, at him. Kisho, Shibano, Renji, and Tenten looked at Lina with a little fear.

* * *

Everyone split up into their roles; Lina and Neji were stuck with the clingy little boy and the annoyingly obnoxious girl. "Isn't this just romantic Neji? You and me, walking down the street together?" Hiyono giggled as she tried to latch herself onto Neji's arm. The brunette boy side-stepped her, but she was persistent, and after five minutes of Neji trying to prevent the princess from attaching herself to his arm, he was defeated. The party of four continued to walk down the street; Neji glaring into the ground, obviously not happy about an amoeba attached to him, and Lina glaring at the princess. Neji turned from the ground and looked at Lina and the little boy, Ringo; Lina didn't seem to mind Ringo. _But why is she glaring at me?_ He asked himself, raising an eyebrow at the pink-haired girl. Hiyono looked at Neji, her green eyes followed his opal ones to see Lina glaring at them; the brown-haired girl's eyebrows frowned as she glared at the pink-haired girl.

'_It seems that this 'Lina' girl is distracting Neji from me.' _Hiyono glared at Lina and turned forwards again.

"I'm hungry!" Ringo pouted as he tugged on Lina's hand. Lina blinked and turned to the younger boy with a smile.

"Well, so am I! How about some ice cream?" Lina suggested with a large smile.

"Yeah!" Ringo shouted as he ran off, grabbing his sister's hand on the way; detaching her from Neji. Neji sighed with relief.

"Thank you, Ringo." He sighed and crossed his arms. He and Lina continued walking after the royal siblings. Neji turned to Lina with a raised eyebrow and sighed again, shaking his head. "I'm going to regret asking this...but, what did I do this time?" Lina looked at him puzzled about what he had asked her. _I've learned in the past year that if a girl is glaring at you out of no where, it usually means you've done something wrong. Thank you, Tenten. I honestly don't know what I did wrong this time, I haven't done anything, or said any-Oh! Is she still upset about that comment about her not being good looking? She must know by now that I was kidding._ He thought, then blinked when realizing what he had thought only a moment ago. _I can see why Ringo would call her pretty, she keeps herself up, I guess? I mean she isn't like Umino and Tenten and wears her hair up ALL the time. She isn't like Umino and Tenten at all, she actually acts like a girl sometimes and looks like one. Her hair and eyes are exotic I guess, but so is Sakura's and Ino's; I wouldn't call Lina PRETTY but above average in looks. Compared to other girls in Konoha._ Neji thought to himself with a stupid look on his face, causing Lina to laugh. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"You're face. Were you thinking of a reason as to why I would be mad at you?" She asked and Neji nodded. "Well, I'm not mad at you; it's HER" Lina glared at Hiyono, and Neji raised his ey brow higher. _Why would Lina be mad at Lady Hiyono? Hiyono hasn't done any-Wait. Is Lina jealous of her?_ Neji thought, then a smirk started to play on his lips.

"Is the Lina Hawatye, JEALOUS of Lady Hiyono?" Neji asked, smirking at the pink-haired gir, who glared at him.

"What! No! Why would I be jealous of her! She's just a spoiled little princess who thinks she can get whomever she wants."

"Uh huh, sure. Keep telling yourself that." Neji smirked. "Just admit it. You love me, you want to hug me, you want to kiss me, you want to marry me, you want bear my children!" Neji mocked her from the previous day; Lina narrowed her eyes at him.

"Shut up! I do not feel such things towards you!" Lina shouted at him with her face beginning to turn a little red, causing Neji to smirk.

"Sure you don't. But Lina, you cannot run from your destiny for long." Neji smirked.

"Shut up!"

"But Lina, it's what you said: it's our destiny! You mustn't run from it." Neji smirk only grew. Lina turned to him and punched his arm.

"Shut up!"

"You know if we get married, that means you'll be in my room all day and night." Whispered to her as he leaned closer to her. Lina's face reddened even more.

"Shut up!"

"But you know, that means I can finally take your ridiculous picture off my wall because I'll be able to see your 'beautiful' face every morning when I wake up." Neji continued to smirk and stood extremely close, Lina's face was as red as a tomato.

"You're mocking me, aren't you?" Lina asked glaring at him, and Neji didn't say anything. "Wipe that smirk off your face or I'll tell Lady Hiyono you'd like to see her tonight at eight to watch the sun set!" Lina glared at him, Neji's eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, Neji, I would." Lina smirked.

"Well I'd like to see you try." He smirked as he got closer to her. Lina's green eyes widened and her face became even redder. Neji was only an inch away when he smirked and pulled back, looking at her face and beginning to laugh. "You seriously think I'd waste my FIRST kiss on you? You're such a moron." Neji laughed, and Lina glared.

"SHUT UP!" Neji shook his head and began walking towards the ice cream stand, Lina following after him. "What ice cream are you going to get?" Lina asked him as they caught up with Hiyono and Ringo, Hiyono glaring at Lina. "I'm going to get strawberry!"

"I'm not one for ice cream."

"WHAT! Oh, well I'm ordering for you. You look like a vanilla kind of guy." Lina smiled at him as she turned to the ice cream man. "Hi! I'd like to order two ice cream cones! One vanilla and one strawberry please." Lina smiled at the man, who nodded and got the ice cream cones, handing them to Lina. She handed the vanilla one to Neji. "Hold this while I get my money out."

"No." Neji told her as he went into his pouch and got out some money, handing it to the man. "You paid for lunch. I pay for ice cream." Lina smiled at him and nodded.

"Okay." Lina smiled as she licked her strawberry ice cream and Neij took the vanilla cone from her hands and licked it. Lina smiled when she saw Neji take another lick. "Good, huh?" He nodded. "We should do this again! It can be the...the, uh...THE NEJI AND LINA WEEKEND TRADITION!" Lina giggled as she saw his eye twitch. "I pay for lunch, you pay for ice cream!"

"Sure, why not." He answered dully, eating his ice cream.

"Excuse me, I have a question." Hiyono butted in, stepping in between Neji and Lina. Lina glared at Hiyono. "But, are you two, you know-_DATING_?" She asked. Lina's cheeks pinked a little.

"What makes you think that!" Lina asked.

"Oh, I don't know…the flirting, and him buying _you_ ice cream." Hiyono sneered the world 'you', as she glared at Lina.

"Well, what if we were? What are you gonna do about it?" Lina smirked.

"I'm the princess of this land, I can get any boy I want." Lina's and Neji's eyes twitched, Ringo stood beside Lina, looking curious at the scene. He tugged on Lina's green shirt.

"Miss Lina, what's flirting?" He asked so innocently. Lina smiled. _ Aw, he's so cute._

"It's when big kids like Neji and I joke around with each other because we're such great friends!"

"Tch." Neji scoffed and Lina glared at him.

"Oh okay!" Ringo smiled and ate his chocolate ice cream cone. Lina turned back to Hiyono and glared.

"Just because you're a princess doesn't mean you can HAVE Neji like he's some possession!" Lina shouted at the girl.

"Sure it does! I'm sure if he was presented with the chance to leave with _you_ or stay here with me, I'm pretty sure he'd rather stay here with one of such elegance as myself." Hiyono smirked. Lina death glared at the princess. Neji just stood next to Ringo, looking confused. _'Did...she...is she confessing her love for me?' _ Neji thought. _ 'I hope not, because that means I have to go out with Lina.'_ Neji sighed, then felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It had suddenly gotten colder, and he could see why: if looks could kill, both females would probably be dead.

"I think it's time to go back to the palace." Neji interrupted the glaring contest. Lady Hiyono and Lina turned away from each other. Neji sighed and began walking back to the palace. Hiyono and Lina glared at each other as they both walked on either side of Neji; Lina was holding Ringo's hand and eating her ice cream while Hiyono tried to grab Neji's hand, which he stuffed in his pocket.

Before they reached the palace, Lina, Ringo, and Neji discarded their ice cream cones, figuring they'd be eating dinner soon. The four walked inside and was greeted by their team and their charges.

"Hey guys! How'd the outing go!" Kisho asked with a smirk, then faultered when he saw the glares Hiyono and Lina were giving each other. Kisho, Shibano, and Tenten sighed. They could feel the tension and the anger coming from the two girls.

"Hey, Lima-bean! Tenten and I are going to get ready for dinner! Let's go!" Shibano laughed as she and Tenten grabbed hold of Lina and dragged her away to their rooms. "So we all got our own rooms! We're all next to each other, and the boys are across from us!" Shibano laughed as they walked down the long hallways. They turned the corner and saw a small hallway that had seven doors. "These are our rooms, yours is in the middle." Shibano told her with a smile. The three girls walked into their respected rooms. Lina saw her bag on her bed, going to it to grab her casual cloths: a short-sleeved green shirt, a light blue sleeveless keiko-gi that buttoned up instead, and a black skirt. Lina changed and looked at herself in the mirror, she tugged her hair and pulled out the small green rubber bands that held her hair up in pig-tails. She shook her head and let her pink locks flow down to her waist. She smiled at herself in the mirror and went to pick up her clothes; she folded them neatly and placed them on her bed. She opened her door and saw Tenten and Shibano about to knock.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lina asked.

"Well, we wanna know what happened today?" Shibano asked being nosy. Lina shrugged. "Aw, come on Lina! I smelled Ice cream!" Shibano glared and Tenten raised an eyebrow.

"We had ice cream." Lina replied.

"Who bought it?" Tenten asked curiously with a smile. Lina blushed lightly and looked away and mumbling something. "What was that? Shibano and I didn't hear you."

"Neji did." Lina mumbled a little louder.

"Neji bought four ice creams?" Shibano exclaimed.

"Pfft no. Ringo and his brat of a sister bought their own, Neji bought mine and his, seeing as I paid for his lunch a couple weeks ago." Lina answered.

"Oh, so...I'm guessing you and Lady Hiyono didn't get along?" Shibano asked cautiously. Lina glared at her brown haired friend.

"HELL NO! She's so...so...BRATTY! UGH! She was ALL OVER HIM today! It made me sick! You know what she said! She said that Neji belonged to HER! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!" Lina shouted as she started pacing, throwing her hands up in the air out of frustration. "She said that if the chance 'presented' itself to him, he'd stay here with the likes of HER rather than go back to Konoha with ME! GOD, CAN YOU BELIEVE HER! THAT SPOILED, LITTLE, SELFISH BRAT!" Lina screamed.

* * *

"Uh...Did you hear that?" Kisho asked Renji and Neji as they began to get closer to their rooms.

"Yeah...it sounded like Lina." Renji sighed. "I wonder what got her mad this time."

"Lady Hiyono." Neji told them and continued walking, Renji and Kisho looked at each other then back at Neji.

* * *

"Why does it bother you if he stays here with her?" Shibano asked as she and Tenten sat on Lina's bed.

"Because! She's a brat and thinks she can get whomever she wants! And she's SHALLOW! She only likes Neji for his looks! There is SO much more to Neji than his stupid face!" Lina grumbled as she continued pacing back and forth. "I mean…He's a strong ninja! He's a cool guy once you get past his pompous ego! He has a somewhat sense of humor! He's actually nice! Again, if you get past his stupid attitude! His looks just add to him! But no, she's so shallow she wont see past his face and his body! God!" Lina ranted, still pacing. Shibano and Tenten blinked and looked at each other, then back at Lina.

"Uh, Lina if you don't mind me asking but, do you LIKE Neji?" Tenten asked cautiously. Lina stopped pacing and stared at the door. She wasn't expecting someone to ask her that, she actually forgot that Shibano and Tenten were there. Lina's cheeks blushed as she looked from the door to the ground. Lina couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud, so she just gave her head a small nod. Shibano and Tenten smiled at Lina. _It's about time she admits it. _Lina turned around and looked at them.

"It doesn't matter though. He likes Tenten." Lina sighed, then Tenten started laughing. Lina's pink eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Oh, that's funny, Lina." She laughed and shook her head. "Neji doesn't like me. We're teammates and friends." She told Lina with a smile, still laughing a little.

"Yeah, and we all know that Neji loves you." Shibano started laughing. "I mean...Lady Hiyono pretty much confessed to Neji that she liked him right? He's going to be coming up to you any day now and to tell you he likes you." Shibano and Tenten started laughing. Lina sighed, she had forgotten about that little promise. There was a knock on the door, causing all three of them to jump. They all secretly hoped that it wasn't Neji. Lina slowly went to the door and opened it there stood Renji and Kisho, and behind them, leaning up against the door in front of Lina's, was Neji.

"He-hey guys!" Lina blushed. "What are you doing here?"

"Dinner." Kisho smiled; Shibano cheered and ran out of the room, and Tenten and Lina walked out of Lina's room. Lina shut the door behind her. Renji sighed and walk to get Shibano; Kisho and Tenten walked behind Renji, leaving Lina and Neji walk behind them.

* * *

**A/N: Well there's chapter Six. I really hope you enjoyed it! I don't know when I'll get chapter 7 out, seeing as I have to finish typing up Bleach and I have to still register for college :/ But I WILL GET IT DONE! D8 If I don't...well I don't know xD**

**Anyway, please review. It makes me happy when I find out that people favorite this story, but I'd also like the some feed back as well! :D**


	7. Authors Note! Important!

**SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HAS NOT READ CHAPTER 614 OF NARUTO! If you haven't read it then... well :/ sorry...go read it. xD;**

* * *

So, since Chapter 614 of Naruto came out almost two weeks ago... I've lost motivation to finish 7 Things and it's Shippuden sequel... why? Because all my plans are like... so obsolete that I can't find any motivation to write them :/

With that said I think I'm really just going to put everything I was going to write in to this thing, but I might just finish up the Sasuke Retrieval arc just because it's kind of important to Shibano and Lina's plot line and for Shippuden (which I might as well post those two chapters I've already written here as well).

You see another reason I'm doing this because since the chapter came out I've been rethinking Lina as a character and as a person and kinda realized that I never shown how close her, Shibano and Kisho was. I also didn't really get to express or show the kind of relationship Sasuke and Lina had. I know I've mentioned in chapter two that they were childhood friends but I haven't said anything more than that. So it might have confused some of you as to why she's concerned for Sasuke in the Chuunin Exam when she doesn't have feelings for him.

So I'm writing a prequel kind of story, to show the relationship between Sasuke and Lina, along with how Shibano, Lina and Kisho met and became friends. This story is mainly focused on before the Chuunin Exams, from when they were six to the time right before Sasuke leaves. That all will be part one, then there will be a part two that is apart of the same Fanfic which will be set after the war and will all be made up by myself and a couple of friends of mine who help me with ideas for my stories.

Now, since I wont be writing my 30 + Chapters of 7 Things I'll tell you a few of the things that I had planned:

Kisho dies. Simple as that. I'm not going to tell you when, or how, or even why but he does. That is kind of important to the story of Shibano and Lina and for Shippuden.

Lina and Shibano were put on separate teams for training and missions, they were both put on separate teams to further improve on their individual strength because the two were too similar in techniques and abilities.

Shibano went to train under Kakashi to focus on her ninjutsu and lightning jutsu's. Lina went to train under Gai to improve on her taijutsu and eventually her Kazegan which she learned from Hiashi Hyuuga and mastered it with Neji's help.

A year and a half later, team five is reformed with a new member named Souta Hayashi who has a striking resemblance to Kisho, the only difference is the eye color.

Shortly after that, Lina meets her grandparents. Her grandfather is the Daimyou of the Wind Country (Even though there already is one, but this was already planned out before I found that out ._.; ). Lina is forced to go to the Wind Country, and she along with her grandparents are escorted back by Shibano, Souta, Rock Lee and Neji.

There her grandparents told her that she can no longer be a Ninja and that she must return to the Hawatye clan where she can be the proper leader of the clan and the future Daimyou of the wind country. Even though Lina refuses and tells them that she isn't going to leave her home in Konoha, she doesn't have a choice. She says goodbye to her closest friends, and Neji who she has been in love with.

Six months later, Lina returns only to find out that Team Gai had been sent out on a mission with Team Seven, which she also found out that Naruto has returned.

After the Five Kage Arc, when the "Konoha 11" or Konoha 13 in this story, Lina learns about Sasuke being apart of the Akatsuki and is angered on why he wasn't taken care of by Naruto. Naruto think's that Lina was being out line and that she's pissed that she doesn't have her revenge on him but Lina tells him that getting revenge is pointless and just an empty goal that isn't going to help her in the future. But she does tell everyone that if she were to ever meet Sasuke in a fight she wont hesitate to kill him.

That's about all I can think of. I am in the process of writing the first chapter to the prequel. It's called "Sing To Me" and there's a reason for why it's called that and it's pretty obvious in the first chapter on why it's called that.

I'll probably post the Sasuke Arc just to finish it off but I might not. Depends if I can ever get it done with out getting distracted by Gravity's Momentum, or Invisible, Crush or Insight or even with this new one Sing To Me.

If anyone wants to know anything else I had planned and in detail don't hesitate to ask me via PM or on my tumblr, or facebook page. (All links are on my profile).


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